


Your Smile is Worth a Little Ink Poisoning

by Alyssa_Aroha



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-10-26 07:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17741213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alyssa_Aroha/pseuds/Alyssa_Aroha
Summary: For as long as Lee Minho can remember, an unknown stranger has had the ability to draw on his skin; homework reminders on the back of his hand, daisies on his fingers, poems on his wrist.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So I've posted on here before but I've decided to really work on a story I'm proud of. So here it is. I came up with the idea in class and I'm really excited to share it with all of the Stays on AO3 - so please, don't be afraid to leave criticism, I'd really like to improve ^^
> 
> While you're here, please join the Stray Kids discord server! It's full of amazing, funny & kind Stays from all over the world and we would love to make new friends! ^^  
> https://discord.gg/Yp8CrhD

No matter how hard he scrubbed, the words on Minho’s wrist wouldn’t disappear.

  


_Water the plants after school  
Don’t forget to pick up lettuce, spring onion and rice from the store_

  


He hadn’t gone and used a permanent marker to write a reminder on his wrist.

  


Minho wasn’t that stupid.

  


He had a test next period. He couldn’t go and sit it with scribbles on his wrist, he’d be accused of cheating.

  


No, some dumbass, who Felix claimed was his ‘soulmate’, had written it on their own arm.

  


Minho hated this person.

  


He didn’t _really_ ,

  


But in this moment he wanted to slap them, preferably after he scrubbed the reminder from their arm.

  


He couldn’t remember how long this had been going on for, it was just something that had always happened. When he was younger it was more just paint, paint everywhere.

  


Nowadays, they were poetry, song lyrics Minho had never heard before, reminders and sketches of flowers.

  


The stranger loved to draw flowers.

  


Minho had no idea who they were, just that they always there, and could speak Korean.

  


“Hey, are you okay?”

  


He spun around at the voice, feeling the air leave his lungs upon his gaze focusing on person standing in front of him.

  


Bang Chan.

  


Great.

  


Minho really didn’t need a troublemaker involved in this right now.

  


What if he wrote more on Minho’s arm and he got into even more trouble?

  


“I-” He could feel himself breaking down, “I have a test in a few minutes and I c-can’t get this off my arm.”

  


He extended out his arm for the older boy, showing him the writing.

  


Chan’s eyebrows narrowed as he read the message, his fingers skimming over the words on Minho’s wrist.

  


Minho heated up at the touch, his heartbeat turning erratic and his skin tingling at the sensation.

  


“Do you want to borrow my puffer jacket?”

  


He stared up at the taller boy, his sweet smile peering back down at Minho.

  


“Is that okay?”

  


Chan nodded encouragingly, shrugging the black fabric of his jacket off his shoulders, revealing the dark blue blazer underneath.

  


“I have no idea what ink that is on your wrist…” he begun as Minho started to slip the puffer jacket onto his shoulders, “But maybe try to avoid writing on your skin with it again.”

  


Minho laughed, if _only_ it was that easy.

  


“Can you go on a quick bathroom break after the test? I’ll be here waiting for the jacket.”

  


“Sure, but don’t _you_ have a class to go to?”

  


Chan winked, smiling at Minho for a moment before slipping out of the bathroom and into the hallway outside.

  


He ran out after the taller boy to confront him, but by the time Minho had gotten through the doorway, Chan was nowhere to be seen.

  


Great.

  


Minho sighed in defeat, acknowledging that Chan _was_ considered a delinquent and would be prone to skipping classes.

  


With the time slowly running out till the test, Minho turned and began to run towards his classroom, his white sneakers slapping loudly on the wooden floorboards.

  


He slipped past the sliding door into the cold classroom as the school bell rung out through the whole building.

  


Mr Jang turned to Minho, his lips pursed.

  


“I expected better from you, Mr Lee.”

  


Minho bowed his head as an apology, trudging through the desks of his peers till he got to his own.

  


“Dude, what went wrong?” Whisper-hissed Felix from his left.

  


“They wrote on my wrist again.”

  


Felix huffed, shrugging his shoulders dramatically, “One of these days you’re not going to be able to hide it, and when that day comes I’ll beat them up for it.”

  


Minho giggled to himself, covering his mouth with his hand as Mr Jang handed him the stapled sheets of paper containing the test.

  


“Alright class.” Everyone turned to the middle aged man in the front of the classroom, “You may begin.”

  


\---

  


Minho shrugged off his heavy backpack onto the floor with a thud. Dragging his sock clad feet through the bedroom until he reached his bed.

  


It looked so warm and welcoming after such a shitty day.

  


He flopped onto the bed, feeling the softness of the blankets absorbing his warmth.

  


As Minho raised his arms in the air, his blazer’s sleeve slipped down his arm, exposing a bare wrist.

  


Finally.

  


He couldn’t believe out of every person in the world, he had to be the one cursed to have someone’s handwriting on his skin.

  


It had been going on for as long as he could remember, there was never a time when this person didn’t have the ability. Over the years he conducted thorough research and experiments to figure it out, but there was no solid information to provide him with, and most of what came up was just soulmate fanfictions on the internet.

  


Didn’t this person have a fucking diary? Or at _least_ a notebook? Let alone a phone? Sometimes, it was nice. When they got bored during the day he would find an entire meadow of flowers on the back of his hand. It was weird how intoxicating they were. He knew so much about them, their favourite felt tip pen, their favourite colours, their & their friend’s favourite coffee orders, quotes, homework due dates and shopping lists full of foods he didn’t eat.

  


It was impossible to avoid them.

  


Minho rolled around in bed, there was no point in dwelling on thoughts he’d already had a million times before.

  


Thinking about them wasn’t going to make them magically appear in front of him. Yes, it was like magic, and quite frankly, uncommon, but even then, it _had_ to be physically impossible to do that.

  


\---

  


Minho woke to a slight pressing in his wrist.

  


He rubbed his sleep dust coated eyes, tapping the home button on his phone.

  


The rectangular device lit up the bedroom in a burst of light as it turned on.

  


Minho rushed to turn down the brightness on his phone, his eyes adjusting to the screen.

  


Four twenty-seven.

  


Great.

  


He pulled the phone away from his face and down towards his wrist.

  


Minho could barely make out what was there, but he watched with fondness as jumbled words began to appear on his skin.

  


“Run until the tip of your ~~toes~~ foot ~~aches~~ burns”  
“I'm a ~~boy~~ ~~kid~~ guy who focus on ~~important~~ practical rap”  
“ ~~Sprinting~~ Running on this ~~path~~ road is too much for me”

  


It wasn’t uncommon for them to write lines like this at the most random of times. He couldn’t tell if they were a songwriter or poet or quoting songs, but it was relaxing sometimes, you know, when they weren’t threatening his academic career. Watching this creative process was nice, though sometimes irritating, especially when they changed a particular line he actually liked.

  


Minho switched off his phone, rolling onto his side, pulling his blankets back over his body, trying to succumb back to the pleasant bliss of sleep.

  


Who were they?

  


Could they look like the actress he saw on naver just before bed? Did they look like the boy he saw in McDonalds the other day?

  


So much for sleep, huh?

  


Minho huffed loudly, hitting his head with the palm of his hand.

  


Please, no more.

  


He just wanted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I plan to update every second Tuesday, please keep in mind though that I am in my second last year of High School & Taking an advanced subject so it may sometimes be a little hard for me to keep on track but please !!! have patience !!!
> 
> btw !! if it says it was posted on a monday instead of a tuesday its because i'll be posting at 12am AEST (KST +2)

As Minho reached his desk, he grabbed the dark blue seat cushion from off his chair and dropped it onto the wooden table in front of him, careful not to bump the grey calendar in the top left corner. With his other hand he placed the warm silver thermos beside his calendar, sliding his tote bag onto the handle on the right of his desk and plopped down onto the chair, resting his head on the comfortable yet cold cushion.  


  


It was too early in the morning for Minho to go back to sleep, he was simply getting comfortable. Every morning, _especially_ Monday mornings, Felix would fill Minho in on what happened in his life since the last time they saw each other, even though he sent him texts on updates hourly anyway. Dealing with Felix’s melodramatic explanation of his spare time often required something to rest on, to help combat the headache that would come otherwise.  


  


“And so basically I was up till 2am because I was texting this guy from Cre-ker High.” Sighed Felix dreamily as he slipped into his own seat, sliding his phone onto his desk.  
This wasn’t the first time Felix had sacrificed sleep for a guy, he was constantly finding new crushes on Instagram, and would get their Kakao before the day was up. The only problem that Felix faced, was that he often was too energetic for them, or fell in too deep too fast.  


  


“Isn’t that the fancy arts school?” Asked Minho, yawning, rubbing his face into the cushion.  


  


Minho, on the other hand, had no excuse to be tired. Despite reading till late, occasionally checking his arm whenever he felt a pressing feeling, giggling to himself whenever the stranger would scribble over what they wrote, he had still gone to a reasonable time. Minho had woken up on time as well. Had a refreshing shower, made himself walnut rice porridge, and even had enough time to make himself a nice hot chocolate and pack it in a thermos.  


  


“Yep. He dances. I saw some videos on his Instagram.”  


  


“What’s his name?”  


  


Felix’s face morphed from smiling to embarrassment, the tips of his ears a bright scarlet as he rubbed his neck awkwardly and turned his face downwards towards his desk, mumbling something incoherent.  


  


“What?” Minho asked as he pulled up the hood from his long puffer jacket over his dark messy hair.  


  


“I don’t actually… _know_ yet.” Felix said slightly louder, still refusing to away from his desk.  


  


Minho stared at him for a moment, his mouth agape. Stared at his red ears and the way he nibbled on his lip nervously  


  


And then he laughed.  


  


Minho couldn’t help himself, here Felix was, teasing Minho for _years_ now about the unknown stranger that would draw on his arm, and lovely ‘ole Felix here didn’t even know the name of his _own_ fancy arts school crush.  


  


He laughed so hard, he fell out of his chair, slipping sideways as he clutched his stomach, falling to the ground on his side.  


  


That was when Felix started laughing, forgotten was his embarrassment as he watched his best friend writhe on the wooden floor.  


  


Minho managed to contain his laughter, slowly regaining himself and standing up. He became embarrassed as he saw all the other kids in the classroom had been staring at him. He bowed profusely to his classmates.  


  


“Sorry.” Minho mumbled sheepishly before slipping back into his seat.  


  


Felix muffled his laughter by biting into his fist, his eyes curved up mischievously.  


  


He rolled his eyes, about to kick Felix in the leg when he heard his desk vibrate.  


  


Felix’s eyes widened slightly, he lowered his hand from his face and whipped his head over to the desk so quickly Minho almost got whiplash. Felix hastefully shoved aside his pencil case onto the floor as he scrambled to grab his phone and check the notification.  


  


Minho watched amused, and leant down to retrieve his friend’s abused pencil case. Felix wasn’t usually this nervous about receiving a text from one of his crushes. It was often excitement, but never like this. And his phone was _always_ on silent, the only other time it vibrated was when Felix’s mum would text him. He watched as the red haired boy read the text present on his black cased phone, his leg jittering slightly, and began to type carefully and slowly.  


  


This, this was new too.  


  


Felix’s typical typing pace was fast, no matter who it was he texted. He’d never back-read or check over his spelling mistakes. Oftentimes when texting Minho, he’d have more spelling mistakes than he could count. And when it was one of his crushes, he’d type _even faster_  


  


What made this boy so different to Felix? What made this boy stand out and make him put in a slight bit more effort?  


  


Felix turned to Minho after sending his text, looking like a deer in headlights and slowly slipped the phone into his pocket.  


  


Before Minho could speak, their teacher slid open the door of their classroom and walked inside, carrying a collection of textbooks and novels.  


  


“Good morning class.” He greeted, smiling as he positioned himself at the front of the room.  


  


The students stood, and bowed in union lead by the class president.  


  


“Good morning Professor Hong!”  


  


As they began to lower onto their chairs, Minho quickly slipped the seat cushion from off his wooden and plastic desk onto his chair before he sat down.  


  


He pulled out the novel and textbook from his bag hanging off the side of his desk, his grey pencil case following them.  


  


Professor Hong began to teach the class, and Minho took notes when deemed necessary. He wasn’t the most diligent student, but he tried, Felix was a little bit more laid back, but they still did more work than the students who napped through class or spent class on their phones.

  


***

  


“Lee Minho, please continue from where Na Jaemin left off.” Requested Professor Hong as the other boy sat down after reading a paragraph.  


  


Minho stood, his right hand thumb pressing on his fingers in a nervous habit to crack them. His left hand holding the novel.  


  


“That night, I dreamed of Demian and the coat of arms. It kept changing continuously.” He spoke, clear, fluid, confident as the rest of the class read along quietly.  


  


Lee Minho _loved_ reading.  


  


“Demian held it in his hand, often it was diminutive and grey, often powerful and varicoloured, but he explained to me that it was always one and the same thing.”  


  


He trailed off for a moment, as he felt the pressing feeling in his wrist again, his left hand shook slightly, and he quickly swallowed, holding the book with two hands, to not look suspicious that something had happened.  


  


“In the end he obliged me to eat the coat of arms! When I had swallowed it, I felt to my horror that the heraldic bird was coming to life inside me, had begun to swell up and devour me from within.” He wanted it to be over, wanted to sit down and check what the stranger had been writing. He enjoyed reading a lot, but he’d really just prefer to quiet read and check up what was written on his arm, even if it was just a homework reminder, the fact he had no idea what the stranger wrote made him paranoid.  


  


“Deathly afraid I started up in bed, awoke. I was wide awake; it was the middle of the night and I could hear rain pouring into the room.” Minho finally finished, slowly sinking back into his seat.  


  


Professor Hong picked up from where he left off, and Minho let out a small sigh of relief, at last he could breathe. He rubbed his tired face and, checking to make sure no one saw, pulled back the black puffer jacket’s sleeve to find a reminder written on his wrist.  


  


_’Detention with Ryujin and Principal Park after class._  


  


Minho’s brain became fuzzy. He knew a Ryujin. A Ryujin who would wear the wrong dress code or fall asleep in class. A Ryujin who would argue with teachers and pick fights with students whenever they insulted her.  


  


Getting a detention notice this early in the day was something Ryujin would do.  


  


And, the principal of his school; Palansaeg Dosi, was Park Jinyoung.  


  


Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck  


  


FUCK  


  


Did this mean the stranger was a student at his school? How had he not realised yet, in the years at this High School, that he was in the very same building as the stranger who wrote on his arm every other day?  


  


Of _course_ he had to find out about the stranger’s whereabouts during winter, where everyone was covered up in long sleeves and dumb puffy jackets and he couldn’t see anyone’s arms.  


  


But wait, wouldn’t Ryujin know who this person was? If they knew Ryujin then surely she would know them?  


  


While Mr Hong was distracted, Minho slid his arm over his desk to Felix’s, pulling the sleeve down slightly.  


  


Felix’s eyebrows raised in shock when he turned to Minho, who shrugged and pulled his arm back. Not sure what to say.  


  


For the first time in a while, he paid barely any attention to class. 

  


***

  


The bell blared loudly throughout the classroom, Professor Hong continued his sentence, and only afterwards did he dismiss the students and leave the classroom.  


  


Minho tilted his neck side to side, cracking his fingers as he stretched.  


  


“Professor Hong should let us have breaks to exercise or something.” Groaned Felix as he stood up from his chair.  


  


Minho nodded groggily as he stepped out from his desk and walked amongst his peers to leave the room.  


  


He waited for Felix outside the classroom, tapping his indoor slipper against the floor impatiently.  


  


The red-haired boy poked his head around the corner, “Chaeyoung says there’s a new kid. He’s a dancer so he’s gonna join our team and sit with us today by the way.”  


  


“Lee or Son?” He asked as they walked down the white plaster walls of the corridor.  


  


“Do we look like the sort of people who would sit with Son Chaeyoung?” Felix asked, rolling his eyes.  


  


Minho shoved him playfully, smiling mischievously before taking off running forward through the crowd of students walking on the cold marble floor, trying his hardest to beat Felix to the lunchroom.  


  


He ran down the hall at a rapid pace, dodging students dressed in dark blue blazers and black puffer jackets like bullets. He reached the stairs, finally, gripping onto the polished oak handle and practically jumping down, adrenaline coursing through his veins.  


  


The excitement was short lived, though.  


  


When he had almost reached the end, after such a well executed performance, even sliding with the aid of the handrail to spin from one side of the landing to the other. He turned around to see if Felix was nearby, smiling when he couldn’t see him. But in the process of turning back he found himself tumbling into a stranger, sending the both of them tumbling to the ground.  


  


Minho clutched at his head, slowly opening his eyes, finding himself sprawled over the back of someone who seemed barely taller than himself.  


  


He slid off them awkwardly, still rubbing his head, and was shocked to find so many students gather around them.  


  


“How could you just shove the School President over like that??” Exclaimed a glasses clad, lanky boy, as he and a short girl helped pull the person up.  


  


The boy turned around to face Minho.  


  


Fuck.  


  


It was Kim Woojin.  


  


Notoriously smart, a kendo champion, could play piano _and_ guitar, friendly, attractive, not forgetting his singing voice that sounded like it belonged to an angel. Minho wondered why such a prodigy child was at a regular school instead of an arts school.  


  


He bowed deeply, embarrassed beyond belief. “I’m so sorry!” He apologised, keeping his eyes trained on the ground, hoping to avoid some backlash from the school president himself and the peers around them.  


  


Woojin laughed. A sweet, beautiful, melodic laugh.  


  


“It’s okay! It happens sometimes. Please don’t feel bad.”  


  


Minho looked up, and found himself looking straight into his warm smile.  


  


“O-Okay. Sorry.”  


  


He bowed once again, seeing Felix approach from the corner of his eye, and he took off running, not even managing to speak more to Woojin, hearing the outcries of annoyed students as he moved further and further away.  


  


There it was! Minho could see the open glass doors of the Cafeteria and slowed, knowing he had, once again, beaten Felix.  


  


Just as he was about to enter the Cafeteria, the rich smell of Kimchi Jjigae wafting throughout the doors, making his mouth water, a red-haired boy with a smirk on his face sped past.  
Goddamn it, Felix.  


  


Minho slumped in defeat and made his way over to the left of the room, where the lunch ladies were serving lunches. He picked up a metal tray and matching utensils, making his way into the line.  


  


The first lady poured him a steaming hot serving of Kimchi Jjigae, the second, a bowl of rice, third, a small portion of japchae, and to finalise it all, a peach fruit cup. He thanked them and continued down the line to the Kimchi serving trays, where he grabbed a small amount and walked away into the mass of tables and peers in the centre of the room.  


  


All around him sat students, male and female. He cursed at himself, finding it difficult to locate the own group he would sit with. They hadn’t established a specific table yet and it was days like these Minho really would have preferred one.  


  


“Oi! Lee Minho!” Shouted Felix from somewhere nearby.  


  


Minho spun around the room, looking left and right, till he saw the boy flailing his arms about from a table by the floor-length windows.  


  


He smiled in relief and made his way over, avoiding other students and tables carefully, till at last, he crossed over the stone cold floor and sat down at the wooden table in front of him.  


  


“Hey guys, Felix here sucks.” He greeted, glaring at Felix.  


  


Felix stuck his tongue out at him and went back to eating.  


  


“Ew. Don’t glare, it makes you look like a 50 year old easily disgusted fashion designer.” Grimaced Chaeyoung from across the table.  


  


Minho squinted his eyes at her in response, “That’s oddly specific.” He retorted, before turning to his tray and scooping his rice into the warm soup.  


  


Yeji spoke from further down the table, catching Minho’s attention. “Anyway, Minho, before you so _rudely_ interrupted talking about how much you love Felix, I was about to introduce you to this new kid, Hwang Hyunjin, who’s an awesome dancer.”  


  


She gestured to the boy sitting beside her.  


  


He was probably the most beautiful boy Minho had ever seen in his life.  


  


His hair was dyed ash-grey brown, it was longer at the back, almost like a mullet, and his bangs looked so soft and bouncy as he combed them with his fingers. His uniform was perfectly fitted, crisp clean. It was obvious the new kid with plush pink lips was fairly taller from where he sat, and Minho knew in that moment that he had a new crush. Who wouldn’t fall for a jawline that sharp with cheeks that squishy looking?  


  


“Hi. I’m Lee Minho.” He introduced himself.  


  


“I heard.” Hyunjin replied in a voice like silk, “Felix seemed to call out your name pretty loudly.”  


  


Minho felt his face heat up from embarrassment, and he swirled his chopsticks around in the soup “Yeah, he does that sometimes.”  


  


Hyunjin giggled. _Giggled_.  


  


It was the most adorable thing Minho had heard in his entire life.  


  


What the fuck.  


  


He ate a few spoonfuls of soup, scooping up the liquid drenched rice. Listening in to the conversation they had asking about Hyunjin and his life prior to the school, mostly how good he was at dancing.  


  


Minho avoided saying anything, and opted to just focus on the japchae he’d scoop up with his chopsticks. He was afraid of saying something wrong, or god forbid his voice would crack when asking something.  


  


He pulled on the sleeve of his puffer jacket, partially out of paranoia, but mostly from habit. None of his friends except Felix knew about the stranger who would leave notes on his arm. And in the chance that they see a reminder telling him he has detention, well, that would stir up a few questions.  


  


Minho finished scooping up the last of his fruit cup with barely five minutes till the warning bell would ring throughout the school, he grabbed his tray and walked over to the bins, scraping off the remains of his lunch and placing his tray over a growing pile.  


  


He left Felix behind, and made his way over to the bathrooms. The other really didn’t care as much as Minho about dentil hygiene. Minho pulled out his toothbrush and walked over to the sink to brush his teeth.  


  


He was brushing mindlessly, looking around at the polished white tiles around the room, the crystal clear mirror that shone his reflection all too well, and the mass of bodies behind and around him.  


  


As Minho rinsed his mouth, someone bumped into him, hard, and he spat out all the water onto the mirror and wall from the force.  


  


“Oh my god I am so so sorry.” Apologised someone from beside him.  


  


Minho sighed, pulling out the paper to wipe the saliva and water off the mirror.  


  


“Seriously I’m really sorry.”  


  


“Yeah. I get it. It’s fine.” Minho huffed, turning to the boy.  


  


It was Felix’s friend, Han Jisung.  


  


Minho didn’t know the boy well, but he knew he was semi-popular within the school, and apparently could rap quite well.  


  


“Oh! Minho! Yeah sorry about that dude.” He smiled, his eyes turning to crescents and his squirrel cheeks puffing up.  


  


Minho sighed playfully, “You would be that clumsy, Jisung.” And walked out of the bathroom.  


  


The warning bell echoed throughout the school, and Minho quickly made his way back to the classroom, no longer a race against Felix but a race against time. Late students around him scattered into their own classrooms, and the sound of Minho’s indoor slippers slapped against the white marble floor that stretched endlessly down the hall. He finally reached the wooden sliding door to his classroom, wrapping his hand around the wall, falling onto the blue stripe that ran down the walls of the halls, and slipped inside.  


  


He made his way past desks to his own in only a nick of time before the bell went. And he slumped down in relief.  


  


“You should really just not brush your teeth after lunch.” Singsonged Felix from his left, a smug look on his face as he texted the boy from the art school on his phone.  


  


Minho held his chest as he regained his breath before he realised, “Hey Felix, Yeji knows everyone, right?”  


  


“Yeah.”  


  


“Do you think she has Ryujin’s phone number?” he asked.  


  


Felix turned to Minho, the cogs clicking in his head when he realised what Minho meant.  


  


“It’s worth a shot.” He shrugged, turning back to his phone.  


  


Minho pulled his phone out of the pocket of his black puffer jacket and scrolled through the contacts on his phone as the class waited for the teacher to arrive.  


  


**To: Yeji**  
_Do you have Shin Ryujin’s number? I wanna ask about something._  


  


The English teacher burst into the classroom, remnants of Kimchi on the left of his mouth.  


  


“Sorry I’m late.” He apologised, wiping his mouth with his thumb and licking it, “I got caught up in a meeting.”  


  


Sure.  


  


Minho’s phone lit up on his desk. He scrambled to grab it and hide it from the eyes of the large Professor Bang.  


  


**From: Yeji**  
_Of course I do, we’re neighbours. Her number is +82 XX XXXX YYXY_  


  


Minho let out a strong sigh of relief, and pocketed his phone back, to not get distracted as the Professor began teaching.  


  


Even so, his mind began to wander. Why was the stranger in Detention? When does detention begin? When does it end? Do they confiscate phones? Would he not be able to text Ryujin till late that night and completely forget about even asking her?  


  


His thoughts continued like this until his attention slowly drifted back to class, and he only thought about the foreign words being taught by the middle-aged teacher up the front.  
It was only on the way home from school, a short while later, in the back of a green bus driving through Seoul, did he remember to ask. Felix, the poor kid, was forced by his parents to attend a Hagwon, Minho, on the other hand, had parents not as concerned with Education, and was able to do free study at home.  


  


**To: Shin Ryujin**  
_Hello? Is this Shin Ryujin?_

  


**From: Shin Ryujin**  
_Yes. Who is this_

  


**To: Shin Ryujin**  
_Lee Minho from class 3-B. I have some questions to ask about your detention today_

  


**From: Shin Ryujin**  
_Ah, I see. Haha it was cancelled today. Principle Park found no reason for us to be in detention except for Bang Chan, who hadn’t finished his homework_

  


**To: Shin Ryujin**  
_Can I ask who else was there?_

  


**From: Shin Ryujin**  
_Well I was there because I had an argument with some random girl because she didn’t believe my cousin was the ulzzang Shin Hoseok. So we were both there. I already told you about Bang Chan, Seo Soojin was there for arguing with Professor Yang about how much a person’s life was worth because of the university they went to (I think she watched Sky Castle hahaha) and there was some random guy there too._

  


**To: Shin Ryujin**  
_I see, thank you :)_

  


Minho closed the messages app and opened up the music app, changing the song before dropping the phone into his lap.  


  


This limited his list of the possible stranger. Now his options were Seo Soojin, Bang Chan, a girl Ryujin didn’t know and a boy Ryujin didn’t know.  


  


Great.  


  


He’d really been hoping for just one other person, that would have confirmed it all. It was still not narrow enough for him to feel satisfied. He watched the passing traffic through the raindrops on the window to his right, waiting for the familiar scenery to morph into the ones at his bus stop.  


  


At last, the bus reached his stop, a dingy little bus stop out the front of a small convenience store. He stood, avoiding strangers as he walked down the dark grey rubber floor of the bus to get to the steps and exit.  


  


He pulled out the T-Card from his phone case with his left hand and held it against the reader, his puffer jacket’s sleeve sliding down his arm to bunch up at the middle of his forearm.  


  


Minho understood ink on skin a lot, after all the years of staring at things written and drawn on his arms. He could tell that sometimes the stranger’s messages would fade as the day progressed. Anything written on their palms would fade whenever they showered or washed their hands, especially if there was soap involved. Sometimes the ink would bleed, if it was strong, or if it was raining slightly.  


  


Like it was then.  


  


He’d figured at some point when he hadn’t checked his wrist on the bus, that the stranger had gone outside in the rain and for some absurd reason wasn’t properly shielded from the rain.  


  


Minho pulled up the hood of his jacket and ran out the bus, determined to get home before it got too heavy.  


  


His white sneakers slowly began to become damp as he ran through the shallow puddles on the concrete footpath towards the white apartment complex he called home.  


  


Minho ran past the few people in the street, those smarter than him had umbrellas. He left his at home. He finally made it to the building, shaking his arms and legs to remove the raindrops from his clothes, and walking over to the letterbox for his apartment, number 9.  


  


Nothing but bills for his parents.  


  


Minho sighed and walked over to the elevator, pressing the metallic up button and waiting.  


  


As the elevator doors opened, the old Mr Kim from apartment 5 exited. Minho bowed before entering the small grey box, clicking his desired level before the doors slid shut once again.  


  


He pulled out his phone as the elevator rose, and clicked on Felix’s contact.  


  


**To: Felix**  
_Spoke with Ryujin_

  


**From: Felix**  
_And?_

  


The elevator let out a small chime, signalling his arrival at level 3. Minho exited and walked down the hall to the white and yellow door labelled _9_. He entered the pin code, the melodic noise of the door unlocking echoing throughout the hall.  


  


He slipped off his shoes and made his way into his bedroom, shrugging out of his long puffer jacket and ungracefully flopping onto his bed.  


  


**To: Felix**  
_The other kids at detention were two people Ryujin didn’t know, a boy and a girl. Also, Bang Chan and Seo Soojin._

  


**From: Felix**  
_Isn’t Seo Soojin in 3-D with Ryujin? Maybe she’s the person._

  


**To: Felix**  
_Yeah, maybe_

  


**From: Felix**  
_Anyway, I gotta get back to class. Text you later?_

  


**To: Felix**  
_Sure. See ya_

  


Minho dropped his phone on his side, the few beads of rain dripping down Minho’s hair onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, who was this person, was it really Seo Soojin? Was it Bang Chan? Was it one of the strangers Ryujin hadn’t recognised? Minho cracked his fingers from the stress. It seemed figuring out who the stranger was would be harder than he initially thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omgg who in detention was the person who are the 2 unknown people?????
> 
> lmaoo anyway i hope you enjoyed this chapter! I tried to make it longer than the last one because i really wanna put my heart and soul into this fic and make it the best one i can.
> 
> the story that they read in korean class/lit was Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth by Hermann Hesse. it's super popular in south korea and so i thought hmm why not have them study that.  
> i actually read it for fun a few years ago for bts and it's pretty good if you want any book recommendations i recommend it ^^
> 
> felix is my bias in skids but hyunjin is so pretty !! i love his long hair and i love seeing it grow back to what it used to be uwu
> 
> and yea that was a loona reference with the phone number lol i love yyxy please anticipate loona's comeback tonight !!!
> 
> if you have any opinions please comment! i'd love to hear them and see who you guys think the person is & how i can improve


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm so if this is delayed or really shit I apologise I was super busy this last week with tests and Stray Kids but I'll probably go back and edit it tomorrow or during the week

The alarm from Minho’s phone blared loudly throughout his room.

  


He felt around his mattress blindly, searching for the rectangular object that had disrupted his sleep.

  


Minho’s hand felt the cool glass of the phone by his right hip and tapped on the screen mindlessly till it stopped beeping.

  


He slumped forward into his pillow harder, groaning before lifting his head, his blurry eyes trying to read the time on the clock his wall.

  


He rubbed his eyes and slowly rolled onto his back, blindly pulling his glasses from the small, oak table beside his bed, trying to make out the time on the clock. 

  


6:50am – He had a hour and 10 minutes to get to school.

  


Minho sat up in his bed and reached for his phone to check his social media briefly, but froze when he saw another reminder had been written on his arm.

  


_Sports day. Remember to bring training uniform._

  


He rubbed his eyes again, making sure what he saw in front of him wasn’t a trick played by his half asleep mind.

  


It remained the same.

  


Sometimes, Minho often felt as if the words written on his arm was something he wrote without thinking, as reminders like _Buy more milk_ or _Wash school uniform_ oftentimes applied to himself as well.

  


This time was no exception.

  


He’d completely forgotten, but today was Tuesday. The first Tuesday of every second month was a mandatory full-day sports day for the boys. The girls had it on a Thursday. Some dumb thing by the school in an effort to keep the 'youth' fit.

  


This meant Felix was wrong. It wasn’t a girl. It _couldn’t_ be a girl. It, the stranger, they were a he. A he who went to detention yesterday. It could be Bang Chan or any other boy from his school other than Felix.

  


What if it was Hyunjin?

  


Minho’s face heated up just from the thought. _What if his crush was the cute stranger who left notes on his arm??_

  


No, it couldn’t be Hyunjin, in real life shit like this never ends up being your crush. That only ever happens in the movies.

  


**To: Felix**  
_They’re a boy_

  


**From: Felix**  
_What??_

  


**To: Felix**  
_The person who writes on my skin. They’re a boy. They’re going to the sports day today._

  


**From: Felix**  
_Dang, so it wasn’t Soojin? She was lowkey cute. Sucks to be you._

  


**To: Felix**  
_Aren’t you flirting with some boy from Cre-ker High?_

  


**From: Felix**  
_Actually I’ll have you know his name is Eric. He’s from California~_

  


**To: Felix**  
_I seriously don’t care please help me with my situation_

  


**From: Felix**  
_Sorry dude I have better things to do than sit in the locker room reading Keigo Higashino novels. I’m going to go play soccer again with Jisung. You should join us._

  


**To: Felix**  
_You know what? I was considering joining you two but now that you’ve insulted the great Higashino I’m not going to bother. Bitch. Now bye, I’m gonna go get ready for school._

  


**From: Felix**  
_Fine. Rude._

  


Minho smiled down at his phone before looking over at the sad bundle full of his uniform sitting on his desk chair. Another day in hell, eh? He leant forwards in his bed, towards the desk, reaching for the yellow bundle. The silky fabric found itself in his fist, and he pulled it towards himself. Minho sighed before slipping out of bed, his feet finding comfort in the soft slippers that awaited them, and he made his way to the bathroom to prepare for the day ahead.

  


***

  


He arrived at the bus stop just as the green bus was about to take off. He ran into the bus as quickly as he could, barely managing to swipe his T-Card before the bus took off.  
Minho looked around the crowded bus, trying to find somewhere to sit, and saw a familiar face staring out the window.

  


Seo Changbin.

  


He had no idea Seo Changbin caught this bus, had he ever been on this bus before? Minho usually recognised the regulars on the bus, especially if they were from his own school.

  


He walked over to the quiet boy and sat down beside him, scared to make a noise.

  


Minho had never really spoken to Changbin before, but he’d seen him hanging around Bang Chan a few times, maybe he knew who else went to detention? Maybe he could tell Minho if Chan drew on himself?

  


“Hello?” asked the dark haired boy beside him.

  


Minho turned to Changbin feeling awkward, and saw piercing brown eyes staring back at him curiously.

  


“Uh, Hi? Seo Changbin, right?”

  


“Yeah? What is Lee Minho doing here?”

  


Minho’s eyes widened in shock “Y-you know my name?”

  


“You and Lee Felix are notorious for being loud.”

  


“Oh….”

  


To be honest, he’d expected Changbin’s voice to sound more like Felix’s, but while it had a bit of roughness to it, it was still soft, and had an accent that didn’t sound like he was from Seoul.

  


“You never answered my question.” Changbin huffed, “Why are you sitting next to me?”

  


“The bus is pretty full and you were the first person I recognised. Do you want me to move?”

  


Changbin shook his head, his earrings dangling in the morning light. “No, it’s fine.”

  


Minho stared at his lap for a moment, nervous to ask about Chan and detention, but when he saw the faint bits of ink on his skin barely poking out from his puffer jacket, he knew it was now or never.

  


“You’re friends with Bang Chan, right? Do you know who he was in detention with yesterday?”

  


Changbin’s eyebrows arched in thought, his whole face scrunching as he racked his brain to find the answer, before he shook his head. “No idea, why?”

  


Minho shrugged. “Just wondering.”

  


He looked around the bus, at the students from other schools, old ladies carrying their vegetables from morning markets. Minho felt at peace, seeing all the people around him and the random hip-hop song from Felix’s melon playlist playing softly through his earbuds as he cracked his fingers mindlessly.

  


Then from the corner of his eye Minho saw Changbin staring at his lap; not Changbin’s own lap, but his. Minho tugged on his sleeve harder, worried the reminder on his wrist was showing. What if it was Chan’s handwriting and he had recognised it?

  


“What?” he asked, facing Changbin again.

  


“Your friend, Felix. He’s sending you a lot of texts.” He replied, tearing his eyes from Minho’s lap and looking out the window.

  


Surely enough, Felix was spamming his phone.

  


He unlocked the device and clicked on the messages app, checking what Felix had sent. Only to be met with disappointment when he realised it was just a constant stream of _Where are you??_

  


**To: Felix**  
_I’m on the bus almost at school. Calm down._

  


“Uh, Changbin?”

  


“Yeah?”

  


“Do you know if Chan draws or writes on his arm?”

  


He shrugged lightly, “Sometimes. You know, you mention Chan a lot. Do you have a crush on him or something?”

  


Minho’s face began to heat up, “What? No.”

  


Out the window he could see the school approaching and sprung up from his seat, hurrying through the bus to the doors, ready to hop off.

  


Minho just wanted to avoid Changbin, he didn’t like Chan like that, he’d never really spoken to the guy in the first place. And he was at a risk of revealing everything. What if he accidentally told someone he had never spoken to before that morning, about his potential ‘soulmate’??

  


The bus reached a stop and he swiped his T-Card, slipping out the doors and running on the footpath towards the school. Upon entering the courtyard, he saw other male students standing around the main courtyard in their classes.

  


But he didn’t see Felix until the red-haired was running into him.

  


“Minho! You took so long! What the hell you’re never this late.”

  


Minho scoffed at him, shaking his head as he began to walk over to where their class sat.

  


“My shower was slightly longer than normal. Did Eric ask you out or something? Why are you so excited?”

  


Felix’s eyes shone mischievously, “If the ‘ _soulmate_ ’ of yours is a guy then he’s here today. He’s going to be standing here during role call. You know all our sport getups are short sleeved? You’ll be able to tell who he is.”

  


“If I was to do that I’d have to actually participate, I’m going to go into the locker room before anyone else does, can you call out my name for me? They never notice anyway.”

  


Felix rolled his eyes, shooing Minho away with his hand, “Go, read your books. I’ll do everything you ask and more, your majesty.”

  


Minho squinted and stuck his tongue out, before bursting into laughter and running further into the school.

  


***

  


He slipped through the door into the boys changing rooms, walking down past the toilet cubicles to get to the locker area, sitting down on one of the wooden benches pressed against the concrete wall. He had a thick novel in one hand, and a notepad in the other.

  


The notepad wasn’t there to take notes on the book, he’d read it before actually, numerous times. No, this notepad started appearing at sport days after someone ratted him out a few months earlier. No one else had told a teacher about him being in there, but by keeping a list of everyone who entered the locker room he’d know if they would reveal him again. It wasn’t like he’d gain anything from doing it, except maybe glaring at them from across the cafeteria, but he still did it anyway.

  


The first to enter, unsurprisingly, was Kim Woojin. Minho looked up from the mystery book in his lap and linked eyes with a shocked bear-like boy in front of him.

  


“Sorry, I didn’t realise anyone else would be in here this early.” Woojin apologised, rubbing his neck.

  


Minho flapped his hand around dismissively, “Don’t worry about me. Do whatever, I’m just here to read.”

  


The school president smiled sheepishly before making his way past him over to a locker. Minho looked back down at his novel.

  


“Just to warn you though…”

  


Minho looked up.

  


“I tend to uh, sing in the shower?”

  


He nodded and reached into the pocket of his pants, pulling out the earphones inside, waving them at Woojin.

  


“Thanks.” Woojin smiled again, walking over to the locker showers.

  


He didn’t plug in the earphones.

  


Minho sat there, staring at the floor, listening to the silky sweet sound of Woojin’s voice echoing off the walls with the sound of running water.

  


_“Please don’t intoxicate me, you and your smile. It’s getting harder to stop, I’m getting more addicted to you. Your gaze, your gestures, all of it. There’s something that drives a person crazy.”_

  


Minho had heard Woojin sing before, but never this raw, never this sultry and scarily hot. He always sang so soft and ballad-like. This was different.

  


But so hot.

  


He shook his head, trying to ignore his thoughts, plugging his earphones into his phone and shuffling his music, turning it up so loudly as to not hear Woojin’s melodic voice.

  


Was this the side of the school president that he didn’t want to show anyone? Did he have a secret life of eyeliner and sneaking into clubs to dance to rock music? Woojin would look nice with eyeliner.

  


No.

  


He couldn’t find Woojin attractive _too_. Plus why would he sing those lyrics specifically? It was clear the boy liked some person that was more adventurous and daring than Minho.

  


He didn’t even notice when Woojin’s shower ended, the pitter-patter of wet feet slapping against the tiles as he walked back over to the locker in his kendo outfit, getting everything he needed. Smiling over at the boy who appeared so absorbed in his book.

  


***

  


The next notable person to enter the boys locker room after Minho had written a few more names was Kim Seungmin. Skipping in, bubbly with his hands on the straps of his backpack. Minho had barely enough time to see who had entered before he jumped up to where Minho sat.

  


“Cool book.”

  


“Thanks.”

  


“Is it a murder mystery?” Seungmin asked as he walked over to a locker.

  


“Not really, more crime.”

  


Seungmin hummed in acknowledgement, opening the locker and sorting things around as Minho scribbled down his name in the notepad.

  


“You’d have to recommend me the book sometime. You seem pretty absorbed in it. Remember when we used to trade books all the time? We never do that anymore.”

  


Minho looked up at the brown haired boy, his mouth curled up in a large smile.

  


“Uh, yeah sure. We should do that some time soon.”

  


Seungmin nodded giddily before leaving Minho’s side to walk over to the showers, humming a song that sounded so oddly familiar.

  


He had barely left Minho’s line of sight before he heard voices, and when Minho turned around he saw two boys standing in the doorway to the changing rooms.

  


A short, dark haired boy struggling with the taller, blonde half asleep baby on his shoulder.

  


They made their way closer to where Minho sat, and he felt his face heat up as a drowsy Chan with messy bed hair linked eyes with him.

  


He struggled to breathe, he’d seen Bang Chan around at school, knew he was a bit of slacker who could pull off a bit of makeup and caught the attention of almost as many girls as Woojin.  
But Minho never realised he’d be one of the people to find Chan so _unapologetically_ attractive.

  


“M-morning.” He squeaked.

  


Chan, barely functioning, smiled before he was dragged further into the shower area, when Minho followed them with his eyes, he couldn’t help but cover his face with his hands when he saw Changbin looking smug.

  


Great. Now there was even more evidence to suggest that Minho had a crush on Bang Chan.

  


Which he didn’t.

  


Minho turned his attention to his notepad to write the two new names down, before turning his attention to his book.

  


“You so have a crush.” Sing-songed a voice as they walked past.

  


He refused to look up, his ears tinted red. His eyes were no longer reading the words on the page but were instead just staring at it. If he ignored him maybe the whole idea of Minho having a crush on Chan would be gone.

  


Minho began to play his music even louder, not noticing Seungmin leave, barely noticing the next student to enter.

  


He swore he had a heart attack when Chan finally emerged.

  


Regular grey running shoes, pared with the school’s dark sport shorts would have looked normal on someone else, but was coughing at the sight of Chan’s muscular legs on full display. The white running singlet did nothing to cover his toned arms either. His bleached blonde hair was tousled attractively, paired with a sweatband to really complete the look.

  


And his mascara was enough to make Minho cough. It had to be illegal for someone to be this attractive. The only thing Chan did when he saw Minho in his freaked out state, was wink.  
As if that helped.

  


***

  


After Chan, Minho had a brief interaction with Jung Chanwoo before Felix and Jisung burst through the doors.

  


The round-cheeked boy was barely able to say bye as Felix ran up to Minho, engulfing him in a hug.

  


“Oh my GOD I missed you so MUCH Minho!” He shouted, shaking Minho violently.

  


Minho shook the freckled boy back, “It’s been less than a HOUR!”

  


Felix laughed and stepped back, Minho pulling out his notepad and scribbling down ‘ _Han Jisung_ ’.

  


“Hey!” protested Jisung, “Why would you write my name but not Felix’s?”

  


Minho squinted at him, “Because I know Felix won’t snitch.”

  


Jisung grasped at his heart dramatically and slowly sank to the floor. “I can’t believe you don’t trust me, after all we’ve been through?”

  


“You splashed water on me yesterday.”

  


“What??” Asked Felix from over at a locker, a wide smile on his face.

  


“Babe no, don’t expose me.”

  


Minho smiled sweetly at Jisung before turning to Felix, “He splashed water on me at the bathrooms yesterday and is too embarrassed to admit it.”

  


“Hey!”

  


Minho shook his head and turned back to his book, ignoring Jisung’s protests and Felix’s constant listing of all the times Jisung had been clumsy since their time being friends together.

  


***

  


It was pretty peaceful after that, with only one other student coming in, not even speaking to Minho.

  


That is, it was peaceful till Hyunjin arrived.

  


The tall, slightly long haired boy looked awkward and lost in the front of the boys locker room.

  


Minho froze, unable to think or do anything. In the morning light, Hyunjin still a little sleepy, he looked even more attractive than he had yesterday.

  


Lee Minho was whipped.

  


Hyunjin spotted Minho and smiled slightly, slowly walking past the toilets.

  


He stood up from his spot on the bench and made his way down towards Hyunjin.

  


“Minho, right?” Minho nodded. “I’m uh, a little lost.”

  


He nodded and began to lead Hyunjin further into the building, “Follow me.”

  


“So, what we just passed were the sinks and toilets, they’re for every day use at whatever time. The locker area to my left, and the showers to my right, are limited to sport days and extra curricular activities.”

  


Hyunjin nodded, slowly walking over to the lockers.

  


“So can I just choose one?” he asked.

  


“Yeah, any that haven’t already been picked.”

  


Hyunjin nodded and got to work on the locker as Minho sat down, his legs shaky.

  


“You don’t play a sport?”

  


“Huh? Oh. No. I just sit in here. You?”

  


“I’m thinking of going over to soccer, though if it’s not that fun I might sneak into baseball.”

  


Minho stayed silent, cracking his fingers with shaking hands.

  


“Well I’m going to go into the showers, if there’s anything else to tell me, please do so before I’m gone.”

  


He shook his head, he’d been sitting in this locker room almost every sport day since he had started school there, there wasn’t much to know about the boys locker room of some high school.

  


As soon as Hyunjin left, Minho curled up into a ball and began to think. He was so stressed over school and crushes and who the hell the soulmate could be and he couldn’t stop shaking.  
“Hey, are you okay?” Asked a concerned voice, but before Minho could respond, he heard a scream as someone ran into the room.

  


His head shot up in shock, and he saw a confused Kim Minseok standing by the doorway staring at the young Yang Jeongin, barely managing to make out the vomit on the front of his shirt as he ran past.

  


“Hey!” Minseok called out, “This bathroom is limited to seniors. Go to a different one.”

  


The boy paid no attention and the sound of a second shower running filled the room.

  


Minseok shook his head before walking over to the bathrooms himself, forgetting completely about the state Minho had been in earlier.

  


Minho hadn’t even had enough time to fall back into his panicked state before Hyunjin left the shower area, dressed in the regular school sport uniform, his hair dripping from the water.  
Even now, absolutely gorgeous.

  


He smiled at Minho and walked over to the small, metallic locker, trying to unlock it. He attempted multiple times, his patience growing thinner with each second, as the stress started to appear on Hyunjin more and more.

  


“Do you want some help with that?” Minho asked.

  


Hyunjin nodded solemnly, defeated.

  


Minho made his way over the wooden floorboards to where Hyunjin stood, reaching up to the locker, feeling small zaps of energy hitting him as his hand brushed against Hyunjin’s own.

  


Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

  


No, Minho was okay. He wasn’t about to go into a gay panic. He asked Hyunjin for the code and typed it in carefully, pressing the unlock button and sighing in relief as it clicked open.

  


Hyunjin hugged him.

  


A soft, strong squeeze that limited Minho’s ability to breathe and made his heart beat erratically.

  


“Thank you thank you thank you so much!” Cheered Hyunjin, hugging him tighter.

  


Minho hugged back briefly, before pulling away. Smiling awkwardly at the taller boy.

  


Hyunjin bowed before spinning back to the locker.

  


“I should uh, get to the sport, huh?”

  


Minho nodded, scratching the back of his head awkwardly as he slowly made his way back to the bench. “Uh, yeah.”

  


The locker slammed shut and Hyunjin turned back to Minho, “Thanks for all the help Minho!” He smiled as he walked out of the brick locker room, a small bounce in his step.

  


***

  


_Ring, ring_. The lunch bell rung out throughout the whole school. Minho sighed, _finally._ Lifting his arms from the book and stretching them outwards, watching as the fabric of his puffer jacket pulled back.

  


The reminder from that morning - _Sports day. Remember to bring training uniform._ \- it was gone.

  


He stood up in shock, staring at his wrist, and looking down at the dropped notepad on the floor. Twelve names stared up at him.

  


Kim Woojin

  


Lee Daehwi

  


Choi Bomin

  


Kim Seungmin

  


Bang Chan

  


Seo Changbin

  


Jung Chanwoo

  


Han Jisung

  


Yoon Sanha

  


Hwang Hyunjin

  


Kim Minseok

  


Yang Jeongin

  


He crouched down and lifted the lined paper, his hands shaking. One of these boys was the person who drew on Minho’s arms. He felt sick seeing Woojin, Jisung and Hyunjin’s name etched onto the paper. Feeling even worse seeing _Bang Chan_ written, glistening up at him in shiny blue ink.

  


There was no way school president Kim Woojin could have been in detention… but he did argue with teachers when they treated his peers badly, did one send him to detention?

  


What if it was neither one of those four, and it was one of the other eight? Minho knew it couldn’t be Bomin, he caught the bus with him. But what about the others?

  


He shook his head, now was not the time for a mental break down. He could talk to Felix about it during lunch.

  


Minho stood up, his legs feeling like jelly as he walked down through the small building, eager to escape the suffocating walls that threatened to eat him.

  


He saw the other male students making their way towards the cafeteria and sprinted over.

  


Minho didn’t even grab lunch.

  


He ran straight to the table they sat at the day before, Felix already occupying the seat to his left.

  


“Felix.”

  


Felix looked up at him from where he sat on the wooden chair, half eaten kimchi sticking out of his mouth.

  


Minho dropped the notepad down onto the table, “The soulmate, they’re someone here on this list. The note was completely washed off and I kept a list of everyone who went in there today.”

  


Felix finished chewing before his mouth opened in shock, “Dude are you serious?”

  


Minho nodded, slumping down onto the seat beside Felix.

  


“And I have no idea who it is either.”

  


“You know I think Jisung sometimes draws on his skin.” Spoke Felix without thought.

  


“He _what_ ”

  


Felix shrugged, “Yeah sometimes. But I still think it’s probably Bang Chan.”

  


Minho slumped down, his head hitting the table. “Felix for the love of god why didn’t you say something to Jisung earlier. We’ve known him for _how long_ now and you didn’t even think to ask.

  


“Sorry dude. But as I said, I doubt it’s Jisung. It all makes sense if Chan was both in detention and had a shower today.”

  


“I just want it to be Hyunjin” mumbled Minho.

  


“You just want what to be me?” Asked Hyunjin as he sat down at the table.

  


“Nothing!” Shouted Felix and Minho in unison, Felix pulling the notepad quickly from the table onto his lap.

  


Minho groaned again, this time in defeat.

  


It was going to be a lot harder finding this soulmate than he had originally hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i saw stray kids !!! uwu im so happy it was one of the greatest experiences of my life the only other kpop concert ive been to was day6 (but ive been to a few western pop concerts). i could see them so well and i was so happy i cried so many times. i cried when they came out on stage bc i was so overwhelmed and omg stray kids is _real_  
>  i held my arms up into a heart and Hyunjin did the same and when I fell over in shock that bitch laughed at me but tbh i would have done the same i fuckkin love that boi. i got hitouch too !!!! felix was first and I apologised for being nervous because that’s lee felix thats my fuckin bias righ tthere and he did a little wave and said it was okay and !!!! his hands !!! are so warm !!! and changbin was so nice and minho !!! minho is the true visual !!! i saw him and i was like holy ffuck how is he so fucking beautiful and i saw chan and i was like thank u for mixtape 3 and he said thank u and ahhhhhhhhh jim has fuckin STARS in his eyes when i told him i lob him he seemed shocked??? like wtf this tall girl in a bucket hat & camo pants loves me??? and honestly woojin’s so BEAUTIFUL i cant find the words to express how fucking beautiful kim woojin is like holy fuck he was like a greek god !!!!!!!! and i was so intimidated by hyunjin’s beauty i couldnt look him in the eye but he !!! was so pretty !!! and jisung was so m fuckin nice and he shook !!!! my hand !!!! and at the end (bc we were last) we were leaving and i was fuckin wailing ugly sobbing and we turned around and waved and they waved !!!! and I lob them so much !!!!! seungmin wasnt at hitouch bc he was injured but holy fuck i saw him perform on stage and hes so pretty and so fucking talented !!!! also !!! as the night went on felix’s makeup was rubbing off !!!! and his !!!! freckles !!!!!! uwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu  
> i still cant comprehend that theyre real tbh.  
> but actually watching this concert really helped me see how they engage with each other openly and i really think it’ll help me write different parts of this story.
> 
> Um also the ‘kim minseok' isn’t xumin from exo but laun from onf. I really love onf and I want more people to appreciate them so I thought maybe if I include onf in the fic more stays might check out their music. Their most recent mv is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukZ0cnIeMXQ


	4. Chapter 4

“So it can’t be Choi Bomin?”

  


“No,” Minho sighed from where he lay on the pastel blue blankets on his bed, his phone resting on the fluffy pillow beside his mop of messy black hair. “He was on my bus on the way home.”

  


Felix’s rang out throughout the room, “Well then it can’t be Chanwoo or Minseok.”

  


“Why?”

  


“They go to Hagwon with me.”

  


“It can’t be Woojin, surely.”

  


“You never know. Professor Yang _is_ pretty shit, _and_ I didn’t see him leave school yesterday.”

  


Minho huffed, rolling over in his bed. “Wasn’t Daehwi sick yesterday? We’ve narrowed it down to eight, that’s pretty good.”

  


“Seven.”

  


“What?”

  


A sigh came from the overheating metal rectangle from Minho’s right. “Yoon Sanha is in our class, dumbass. We’d know if he got detention. To be honest I’m surprised he _didn’t_ get detention, considering how messed up his uniform usually is.”

  


Minho leaned over the side of his bed to reach into his school bag, pulling out his crinkled notepad and an old red pen.

  


“So…” he trailed off as he crossed out names scrawled onto the lined paper with red ink, “We’re left with Kim Seungmin, Bang Chan, Seo Changbin, Han Jisung, Hwang Hyunjin and Yang Jeongin.”

  


“And Kim Woojin.”

  


Minho huffed.  
“And Kim Woojin.” He tossed the dingy notepad onto the floor, scrawling out onto the oaken floorboards with the papers folding in weird mismatched ways as it landed. “What if it was you?”

  


“Lee Minho. You and I both know for a _fact_ it isn’t me. And even if it was, I’m taken.”

  


“You mean…?”

  


“Yep. Eric asked me out earlier. Fried chicken for lunch on Saturday.” He could hear Felix’s smile in his voice.

  


“Good for you. While you’ve got your romantic comedy of a life figured out, I don’t. So are you gonna keep helping me or gush over your new boyfriend?”

  


Felix ignored him.

  


“Will you come with me, on Saturday? I’m nervous he’ll not be who he says he is or something.”

  


Minho blinked for a moment, processing what he said before bursting out in laughter, clutching his stomach.

  


“Shut up!” whined Felix, embarrassment laced in his voice, “Please? Please do this for me.”

  


“Fine, fine. Only because you love me.”

  


“I do. I really do. Thanks best friend.”

  


His phone lit up, vibrating on the cold pillow it rested on.

  


Minho rolled over to face the phone and check the notification.

  


“Huh?”

  


“What is it?” Asked Felix.

  


“Kim Seungmin just requested to follow me on Instagram.”

  


“Maybe it’s a sign?”

  


“Doubt it.”

  


He unlocked the phone, opening up the app and accepting Seungmin’s request, sending him one in return.

  


“Hey Lix are you gonna be one of those people who just posts about their boyfriend on their Instagram?”

  


Felix scoffed, “I don’t know, Minho. Will _you_ be one of those people who just post about their super sexy boyfriend Chan on Instagram?”

  


His ears began to heat up, “For the last time, Felix, it probably isn’t Chan. Plus I don’t even have a crush on him anyway. Why do you even keep changing your mind every second on who the person could be?”

  


Minho scowled as a scoff rung out from the speaker on his phone, “That’s right. You have a crush on Hyunjin.”

  


His question remained unanswered.

  


“W-what? No I don’t. Dude what the fuck where did you get that idea from?” Minho spluttered, cracking his fingers to distract himself from the thoughts lingering in the back of his mind.

  


“Minho, babe. Everyone and their grandma knows you like Hyunjin. It’s so obvious it’s almost sickening. Me and Yeji have a bet on whether you’ll be brave enough to ask him out or not.”

  


“What? You guys suck. Plus, I’m more set on figuring out on who the person is anyway. Who knows, maybe it could be Hyunjin? Then you can get your money from Yeji.”

  


A croak emitted from his phone, “What? how did you-“

  


“It’s you Felix, of course I know which side you’d bet on.”

  


Felix shot back in a mocking voice, unintelligible words spewing out from the speaker.

  


Minho’s phone vibrated again, he turned back to face it and tapped the home button to see an Instagram notification lighting up the cracked screen. _KimSeungmin has sent you a message._

  


“Seungmin texted me?” he questioned aloud, fumbling to unlock the phone.

  


“Ooh, read it!” Felix’s smile could be heard through his voice.

  


Minho swiped past the homescreen, a photo of him and Felix in front of an ice cream van, melting goodies in their hands from six months ago as he opened up the rainbow app to check his messages.

  


**KimSeungmin**  
_Hey, it’s Kim Seungmin from Palansaeg Dosi High. I just wanted to thank you for the Keigo Higashino novel you leant me today. I had a lot of fun reading it and I already finished it. Are any of his other novels worth reading?_

  


“Wow he’s almost as nerdy as you, Minho.”

  


“Shut up Felix.” He snapped, ears tinting red as his small, thin fingers began to type a response back.

  


**Lee.Know**  
_Honestly? Any other book by him is a must read. I enjoy them all. And haha it’s cool you already finished it – glad to know I’m not the only bookworm in our grade.”_

  


**KimSeungmin**  
_Okay! I’ll check his other stuff out~~ And yeah I really like reading :)_

  


**KimSeungmin**  
_Wait, do you listen to Day6?_

  


Minho froze.

  


“Felix…” He whispered.

  


“What? What is it?” Questioned the red haired, concern laced in his voice.

  


“I… I think Kim Seungmin is a fan of Day6…”

  


He heard a thump as Felix’s body fell back onto the blankets of his own bed across the other side of Seoul.

  


“Of _course_ he is.”

  


**Lee.Know**  
_Yeah haha. Do you?_

  


**KimSeungmin** ****  
_Yes!! I love their music!! My favourite member is Wonpil! What about you?_

  


**Lee.Know**  
_Wow I’ve never met another male Day6 fan before – My favourite is Sungjin._

  


“Felix! He likes Day6! His favourite member is Wonpil!”

  


“Minho, I love you, but I don’t really care about you and your boyfriend’s little boy group.”

  


“What?? You were _just_ telling me about the bet you have with Yeji.”

  


“Minho at this rate you’re Simon Spier. You’re falling for like every guy who could possibly be your soulmate.”

  


“I don’t know who Simon Spier is but shhh I am not.”

  


**KimSeungmin**  
_This is probably going to sound a little weird, but would you go to Geuggoa Geug Café with me tomorrow? They’re holding a Cup Sleeve event with some other goodies for their next comeback and when I went to the last one it was filled with girls, would you go with me so I don’t have to be the elephant in the room? You don’t have to, it’s just if you wanted to._

  


“Dude he wants to know if I’ll go to a café with him tomorrow for a fan event.”

  


“Cute. A little date. You should so go.”

  


“It’s not a date.”

  


Felix burst out laughing, a stream of ‘ _hehehe_ ’ flooding into the room, he could barely contain himself, gasping loudly for air.

  


“Sure, Minho. If you say so.” He wheezed, “Anyway, even if it _isn’t_ a date, you can at least see if he has anything written on his arm.”

  


Minho nodded, before realising Felix couldn’t see him, and replied “Fine. I guess you’re right.” As he began to type up a new message to Seungmin.  
**Lee.Know**  
_Sure! I’ve never been to one of those before but it sounds fun! I’ll meet you out the front gates after school~~_

  


**KimSeungmin**  
_Ok! See you then._

  


**

  


Minho didn’t look up from the novel in his hand when Felix trailed off from his conversation with Hyunjin. Didn’t look up when he heard the pitter-patter of feet walking up to him from behind.

  


“You can’t sit with us.”

  


What? Felix would never say that?

  


Minho looked over at Felix, his small hand covering the cheeky smile behind it.

  


He turned around and looked up at the boy standing in front of him.

  


“Uh actually, I can.” He smiled, his cheeks puffing out slightly.

  


Han Jisung.

  


Now Felix’s statement made sense.

  


The squirrel-like boy placed his tray in the empty spot on the wooden table beside Minho’s and sat down to his right, immediately clinging onto the taller boy.

  


“Uhh?” Minho turned to Felix.

  


“I keep forgetting you barely know him. He likes to hug people a lot, don’t mind him.”

  


He heard a scoff from his right and felt Jisung’s left arm move up from his waist to his shoulder, his right arm letting go of Minho to pick up a heaping of bean sprouts on his tray with his sterilised utensils.

  


“I’m not a dog, you don’t have to talk about me as if I can’t hear you.” He scowled before stuffing his mouth with the overfilled metal spoon in his hand.

  


Minho laughed, tickling Jisung under his chin, his eyes turning to crescents.

  


The brown haired boy coughed on his food for a moment before swallowing, letting out a loud laugh, clapping, before reaching to Minho’s hand to stop him.

  


“S-stop! I almost choked!” he giggled, holding Minho’s right hand up in victory, the thin silver bands on his fingers shining in the winter sun’s rays casted into the cafeteria.

  


“So, anyway.” Began Minho, picking up some Kimchi, his chopsticks in his left hand, his right still in Jisung’s grasp, “What brings you to our table?”

  


Jisung lowered their hands, never letting go and instead, opting to play with the rings on Minho’s fingers.

  


He let out a strange noise, head lowered and tired eyes showing nervousness as they stared at his hands.

  


“Well, I don’t really know you that well and I was wondering if you-”

  


“Wait Minho, you’re ambidextrous?” Cut in Yeji, confused.

  


Minho teared his gaze away from Jisung and looked at the mouse-like girl in confusion.

  


“He always has been? You never noticed?” Said Felix, his hands raised in a confused manner.

  


“Anyway.” Whispered Jisung

  


As Minho turned back to Jisung, he saw Hyunjin from the corner of his eye, staring at Jisung’s hand in Minho’s.

  


It wasn’t just staring, it was more…

  


Glaring.

  


He shifted his attention to Jisung, smiling at the nervous boy encouragingly.

  


“As I was saying, I’ve known you for a while now and we _barely_ know anything about each other. So I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to see this western movie called ‘The Shining’? It’s showing at the old theatre near the Neo Dream kindergarten on Friday.”

  


Minho blinked once, then twice, his eyebrows furrowing.

  


“Is this a date?”

  


Multiple sets of chopsticks clattered onto the table, Jisung’s included.

  


His eyes widened, mouth agape, and he curled in on himself slightly, using his right hand to pull the hood of his black sweater over his eyes, his puffy cheeks tinted pink from embarrassment.

  


“No!” Jisung squeaked, staring back down at his food for a moment, before looking over at Minho. “It’s just I-I thought it would be a fun thing to do and-and Felix doesn’t want to accompany me.”

  


Minho took in the state of the smaller boy, how embarrassed he looked, and thought about how Felix would probably never let neither Jisung nor Minho live it down.

  


“Ahh…” he trailed off. “So you’re just using me as a replacement for Felix?”

  


Someone laughed from across the table, but when Minho turned to check across the wooden table he was greeted with a smiling Felix, his eyebrows wiggling, and Hyunjin coughing into a thin, veiny hand.

  


Wow, Hyunjin had hot hands.

  


What the fuck Minho?? He was being asked out on a date-not-date by Jisung and here he was thinking about how attractive someone else’s _hands_ were??

  


“N-no.” Jisung stammered, “Look I just wanna get to know you more, okay? Is that a crime?” he pouted, his eyebrows furrowed pleadingly.

  


Minho sighed in defeat smiling at Jisung, “You know what? I’ll go with you. Felix sucks it’s not like he’d wanna hang out, so I’ll hang out with you instead.”

  


Jisung’s face lit up with joy, his cheeks puffing up with his smile, eyes turning to crescents, his slightly crooked front left tooth showing in the light as he smiled with his whole face, wrapping his sweater clad arms around Minho tightly.

  


Cute.

  


His hair tickled Minho’s neck as he pulled back, pressing his soft lips to Minho’s cheek briefly before letting go of the taller boy entirely, grabbing his lunch tray and skipping off into the sea of students behind them.

  


“Does he do that often?” Asked Yeji

  


Minho turned back to his friends just in time to see Chaeyoung bury her face in her hands, groaning.

  


“Yes. Oh my _god_ does he do that often.”

  


He cast his eyes down to his tray, hiding the smile on his face as he scooped up some Sundubu-jjigae into his spoon, avoiding the eyes of a blatantly shocked Hyunjin.

  


Felix whistled, “Wow Minho look at you go.”

  


The others turned to him curiously, Minho included.

  


“First a date with Seungmin this afternoon and then a date with Jisung on Friday. You’ll be out here breaking everyone’s hearts soon.”

  


Minho covered his face in his hands, feeling embarrassment sweep through his whole body.

  


“What? How is _Minho_ getting all the cute boys? It’s not fair.” Pouted Chaeyong

  


He stuck his tongue out at Chaeyoung before resuming eating the spicy soup laid out in front of him.

  


“Who’s Seungmin?” asked Hyunjin from across the table.

  


“Kim Seungmin, bookworm, Day6 fanboy, Straight-A student. He has bangs, kinda resembles Wonpil of Day6 actually…” Yeji answered, ticking off her manicured fingers as she listed Seungmin’s traits.

  


“You like pretty boys, Minho?”

  


Minho’s head whipped over to face Hyunjin.

  


“No!”

  


Felix smiled behind his hand.

  


“No, I don’t have a date with either of them, and no I don’t have a ‘thing’ for pretty boys.”

  


Wait.

  


Hyunjin was a pretty boy…

  


Fuck.

  


**

  


Minho stood out the front gate of the school, waiting in the cool breeze, watching the soggy grass as he listened to Day6 in his earphones.

  


He wasn’t a fan of Day6 per se, it was just because, well, Seungmin was, and he wanted to know what the other boy liked.

  


For research, so they could talk about common interests.

  


Not for any other possible reason that could potentially flicker across Minho's mind.

  


“Lee Minho!”

  


Minho spun around, scanning the emptying schoolyard for the person who called his name, his eyes landing on a giddy Seungmin walking towards him, white sneaker-clad feet practically bouncing through shallow puddles on the red, tiled footpath out the front of the school building. His hands barely poking out of his long puffer jacket as he held onto the stain-free straps of his white schoolbag, the thick, black strap of his camera hanging around his neck, swaying wildly with the movement of his walking.

  


Cute.

  


He paused the music on his phone and waved at Seungmin, smiling as the brown haired boy approached him.

  


“Are you ready?” He asked, his eyes shining.

  


Minho nodded and extended out his hand, gesturing in front of him, waiting for Seungmin to begin walking to the café first.

  


Minho had no idea where he was going.

  


“What’s the camera for?” He asked as they walked side by side, their arms brushing.

  


“I like to take photos of moments I deem memorable, or just the nice view too.” Seungmin chuckled, rubbing his neck nervously.

  


Could this boy get any cuter?

  


They continued to walk down the grey, paved footpath, passing other students, restaurants and apartment buildings till they reached a busy community park.

  


“Aww, cute.” Seungmin cooed at the children on the bright yellow slide.

  


Minho stood back slightly for a moment, watching fondly at the smaller boy, taking photos with the upmost concentration, his tongue poking out as he sought out to find the best angle.

  


He turned to face Minho, “You can go into the café, it’s the small brick building to the left of the park. I won’t be long.”

  


“Are you sure?”

  


Seungmin nodded, smiling at the older boy before turning back to his camera.

  


Minho began to walk further down the street, turning back every few seconds to check what Seungmin was doing.

  


Before he knew it he found himself standing in front of a black, wooden door. Floor length crystal clear windows showcasing the café inside.

  


_This must be it, he mused to himself._

  


The small, silver bell rang out through the café. The whole place was quite minimalist. Light cream coloured walls decorated in small white stars, half sphere lights hanging from the ceiling, fairy lights wrapped around the cords. The tabletops were white, the legs a light birch wood, identical to the seats.

  


Minho found himself walking over to one of the booths, squishing past a crowd of thirty or so girls to sit down. He placed his striped red backpack on the cushioned seat beside him and waited for Seungmin to finish with his photography outside, staring at the tiny bonsai tree encased in a salmon pink pot.

  


“Hey, sorry.” Seungmin wheezed as he regained his breath, after seemingly running into the café and shoving past the fangirls at the front, "The kids were really cute and looked like they were having such carefree fun and I really wanted a photo.”

  


He shook his head dismissively, “It’s okay, I barely had to wait that long anyway.”

  


Minho noticed a girl approach them, and was about to prepare to retort to a snarky fangirl that yes, he could like a boygroup too, when he realised it was just the waitress. She handed them two crisp menus and walked back over to the crowd of overly excited girls.

  


“To be honest, I’ve only ever been here once, but they have good hot chocolate.”

  


Minho looked away from his menu and up into the glimmering, excited eyes of Seungmin.

  


“That’s alright, I’ll get the same. Truth be told I’ve never been here before.”

  


Seungmin smiled and looked back down at the menu.

  


“Oh!”

  


“What?”

  


“Could we get the plate of Macarons? You don’t have to pay, I can, I just really want to try them.”

  


Minho shrugged, “Sure, though we can split the bill 50-50, I'll have some too.”

  


The girl in the straight, clean cut ponytail returned to take their order, and left just as quickly, disappearing into the crowd of screaming fangirls. The two boys sat contently as they waited for the snacks, humming along to the songs playing over the small speakers placed around the café.

  


The pastel, powdery macarons arrived on a polished white plate, the hot chocolate packaged in cream coloured takeaway cups, a rainbow flower print on the paper sleeve, a photo of the five smiling members from Day6 in a circle in the centre.

  


Seungmin’s whole face lit up as he took in the aesthetic meal that had arrived, pulling out his phone in a flash, his hands delicately wrapped around the mint green phone case.

  


“Sorry.” He laughed awkwardly after taking the photo, reaching to the hot beverage on his left.

  


“No, no! Don’t be sorry! It’s cute.”

  


Seungmin choked on his drink.

  


“What?”

  


“What.”

  


Seungmin squinted his eyes, reaching to take another sip of the hot chocolate before he froze, his eyes widening and placing the cup back down.

  


“It-it’s…”

  


Minho stared at him in confusion “What? What’s wrong??”

  


“They’re playing _Day6_! Oh my god." His hands started to tap the table repetitively from excitement, "Can I sing?? is that okay?”

  


He nodded, his confusion morphing into shock as he heard the beautiful melody that streamed from Seungmin’s lips.

  


“ _Just looking at you makes me smile, and when I find myself smiling, it’s strange. As the day goes by, my love towards you becomes deeper and deeper._ "

  


Minho gasped, staring at the angelic boy before him. “Holy shit, you sing like an angel, what the hell?? I wish _I_ was that talented.”

  


Seungmin’s cheeks reddened, his eyes widening as he reached for the paper cup full of hot chocolate, trying to hide behind it, embarrassed.

  


“I really don’t. I hate singing in front of others because of how bad I am, but, I guess I feel comfortable around you? So, uh, thanks."

  


Minho smiled at the nervous boy and reached for the powdery, pastel blue macaron sitting at the top of the pile.

  


If the stranger actually was Seungmin, he wouldn’t really mind.

  


**

  


**To: Felix**  
_The trip to the café was fun, and the café itself was fun too. It's nice hanging out with Seungmin._

  


**From: Felix**  
_And?? Did you get to see? Is it really Seungmin? Have we already cracked the case?_

  


**To: Felix**  
_To be honest…_

  


**From: Felix**  
_Oh no._

  


**To: Felix**  
_He didn’t have anything on his arm._  
But neither did I.  
So it could still be him. 

  


**From: Felix**  
_Did anything happen at least?_

  


**To: Felix**  
_He sang and I decided that if it was him, I wouldn’t be disappointed._

  


**From: Felix**  
_Whipped._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been doing a lot of research recently through watching fancams, official content and talking with other Stays to see the sorts of habits skids have & how they see them to make this as real and well written as possible. Though if I wrote someone badly please tell me so I can fix it! I don't want to accidentally write someone completely different to how they really are. 
> 
> I struggled a lot with finding the motivation to write this chapter, and I worry it impacted the quality, I'm so sorry for that if it's bad. It's currently 12am and I'm about to crash at my computer, but please, don't lose hope. The whole story isn't going to drag on like this, I promise you.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and as always, comments would be appreciated !! Chapter 5 will be up next tuesday at 12am AEST.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW: Vomiting & Violence**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I feel a bit prouder about this chapter, I had more time to work on it because of the long weekend, and so I had less of a reason to procrastinate and write it.
> 
> Though a minor setback... I started watching 'I am not a Robot' and I am COMPLETELY hooked. I thought it was JTBC because of the quality but dang look at MBC go. (I prefer JTBC & TVN dramas over MBC, KBS & SBS)  
> In case you hadn't noticed - 85% of what I watch nowadays is K-Dramas. I really wanted to put off watching 'I am not a Robot' until I had finished all the other dramas I had started but _it's so good_

Minho had only finished buttoning the final button on the white shirt of his uniform when he heard two brief knocks on his oak bedroom door.

  


“Yeah?” He asked, standing from where he sat on the edge of his unkempt bed.

  


A beautiful woman, similar in appearance to Minho with dark hair and a navy blue business suit opened the door, her contrasting, ragged bright read indoor slippers sliding over the polished, wooden floorboards.

  


His mother.

  


She smiled at the half asleep boy, leaning against the doorframe.

  


“Don’t forget to feed your sisters before you go to school today.”

  


Minho nodded, covering his mouth with his hand as he yawned.

  


The bun perched above his mother’s head barely moved as she turned to leave, before stopping in her tracks, turning back to her son.

  


“Oh!” She exclaimed, clicking her fingers, “Your father and I will be out late tonight with some colleagues. I’ve put eight-thousand won on the countertop for you, you should be able to buy some take-away Bibimbap with that for dinner.”

  


“Okay, mum.”

  


She smiled, her shining eyes turning to crescents as she left the room.

  


He finished preparing his uniform, and turned to the bed.

  


He hated his bed being messy.

  


The books in his desk were sorted alphabetically, the work from the night before sat neatly in the middle, ready to be placed in his bag. There were no clothes on the wooden floor, instead all crammed into a white laundry basket by the door. His novels in his bookshelf were sorted favourite to least, and only his glasses case and a drink bottle sat beside a lamp on his bedside table.

  


But every morning, Minho would waken to his bed a complete and utter mess.

  


He huffed, unplugging his phone from the charger plugged into the wall beside his oak bedframe and placed it on his bedside table, pulling the pillows and blankets off from his bed onto the floor.

  


Minho, with the skill of someone who had completed the task multiple times before, folded his blankets and plumped up his pillows within minutes, placing them back onto his bed.

  


He packed his schoolbag, placing the black backpack onto his shoulders before leaving the warm bedroom.

  


He walked over to the fridge, pulling out three cans of tuna, before turning to the three small bowls on the floor by the kitchen countertop's white base, and emptied out each can into a bowl.

  


He rang a tiny bell and smiled to himself as three small cats scampered towards him.

  


"Eat up girls! It's just us tonight, so don't think you'll be getting a treat from mum."

  


Minho walked around the balls of fluff and made his way towards the wooden front door, turning back to face the house for a moment, before leaving, locking the door behind him, and making his way down the corridor to walk to school.

  


**

  


Minho had been completely in his own world, barely paying attention to anything around him as he scribbled down the answers to the complicated math equations in his workbook.

  


He only paused when he noticed a pressure building up on his wrist.

  


Minho looked up at Professor Song, who was busy writing equations on the chalkboard, and back down at his jacket covered wrist.

  


Carefully, he pulled back the sleeve, checking what the stranger wrote this time.

  


_Geometry homework, chapter 3 revision._

  


He sighed, disappointed. After receiving no note yesterday, Minho was praying for something good that day. He wanted another clue, something that could narrow down the list further.

  


Not a homework reminder.

  


Minho pushed back the sleeve over his wrist, and turned back to his flimsy notebook, answering the next question in the book.

  


He better narrow it down _somehow_ today.

  


**

  


Minho dumped the pile of books and stationary onto the desk in front of him, mentally preparing himself for the English words that would fill his empty stomach.

  


He almost regretted the idea of dropping lunch for revision, but it was a Thursday, and he had promised himself that he would use lunch time every Thursday ot revise. He organised the language books situated in front of him and began to study the foreign words.

  


It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes of studying the ink filled glossy paper that he heard commotion coming from the clear window beside the desk in the library. Minho turned to see what was happening, and almost let out a cry of shock when he saw Bang Chan fighting with some other student on the soccer field.

  


Minho leapt up with a start, almost knocking over his green drink bottle in the process. He quickly walked out the black, carpeted sanctuary he knew as the library, and ran down the hall, his footsteps echoing off the blank walls as he raced to find the blond boy.

  


The cold wind hit him like a brick as soon as Minho exited the school building, and clutching his puffer jacket closer to himself, he ran down to the soccer field.

  


There had to be fifty or so students crowding around, their smartphones recording a fight Minho couldn’t see.

  


He pushed past, gasping for breath, and found himself staring as Chan rolled over, punching the other student in the jaw.

  


“Don’t you _ever_ speak of him like that again!” He screamed, fat tears rolling down his cheeks, his lip bloody and swollen.

  


The aggressor, who was clearly stronger than Chan, punched him in the stomach, and Minho muffled his cry with his palm as Chan fell back, onto his back, coughing up blood.

  


The bruised and bloody fists of the other student appeared in the air for a moment, before they ducked lower and sent blows to Chan’s chest and stomach.

  


Minho felt his heart sink to his gut as he heard a cracking sound when the boy’s fist made contact with Chan’s nose.

  


The boy straightened up, smirking triumphantly, and turned to the crowd, glaring, and smiled again as his peers parted like the red sea.

  


Minho could only hear static, stared as the students each left, one by one, till he was the only one by Chan’s side.

  


The brown haired boy lowered down until he was kneeling beside Chan.

  


“Chan, can you hear me?” He asked, pulling out a hanky from his pocket, wiping Chan’s bleeding nose.

  


Chan grunted in response, his eyes still shut as he clutched at his stomach.

  


Suddenly, the older boy’s eyes flew open, and he stared at Minho for a moment, before he turned to the opposite side, his back facing Minho.

  


And he vomited.

  


Minho reached out on impulse, rubbing his back reassuringly as Chan emptied out his stomach onto the bright green artificial turf bellow.

  


“Hey…” He whispered, “let’s get you to the nurse, okay?”

  


Chan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and nodded, twisting over onto his back, reaching out.

  


Minho realised what he wanted and stood up, pulling up the taller boy with him.

  


He reassuringly wrapped his arm around Chan’s shoulders, and felt the blond haired boy lean most of his weight onto Minho.

  


The brown haired boy wanted desperately to ask what had happened, and what had triggered the fight, but Chan looked three seconds away from throwing up again, and Minho was scared that if Chan opened his mouth, he would let out his guts onto the school’s floors.

  


Minho knocked on the nurse’s office and turned the doorknob with his left hand, guiding Chan in with his right.

  


The young woman stood up from her desk, “ _Again_ , Mr Bang? How many fights are you going to get into just to protect your friends?” She sighed, pulling out the first aid box as Chan sat on one of the sickbeds.

  


“And you didn’t get Mr Seo or Mr Han to bring you, but dragged this poor kid instead? He looks too nice to be involved in your antics.”

  


Chan rolled his eyes, mustering a smile as the woman bandaged up his nose.

  


“Miss Na, meet Lee Minho. He’s a friend of Jisung’s, or so I’ve heard.”

  


“Ah…” She smiled back, “Is this the boy he won’t shut up about?”

  


Minho felt his whole face heat up, and he wanted to bury himself inside his jacket.

  


Did Jisung _actually_ have a crush on him? Was the movie hang-out idea actually a date? Had Minho embarrassed Jisung and made the other boy come up with some excuse?

  


“Oh now look, Miss Na. You’ve gone and made Minho all flustered. Yah, Minho.”

  


Minho turned to face Chan, embarrassed to know the older boy knew how affected Minho was by the nurse’s words.

  


“Jisung doesn’t talk about _any_ boy, Miss Na’s just being cheeky.”

  


He felt his embarrassment die down, and straightened up, feeling more reassured when the nurse herself looked over at Minho and smiled.

  


Minho wouldn't _actually_ mind if Jisung _did_ gush about him.

  


**

  


Minho sat huddled over his wooden desk, the revision work for the day’s math class staring up at him.

  


Geometry, chapter 3.

  


The reminder sat on Minho’s arm, screaming at him to look back over at the equations in front of him and solve them.

  


Why did it take the stranger so long? Why didn’t they wash reminders off more often. Minho would only feel at rest when he knew that the other person had finished their work too.

  


His thoughts were interrupted by the growling of his stomach.

  


5:45

  


Already? It felt so much earlier than that. How could he have lost track of time so quickly??

  


Minho scrambled up from his desk, falling over himself as he slipped through his bedroom in his white socks.

  


He had a rule to not eat past 6pm.

  


He grabbed the puffer jacket strewn across his bed, and bolded out through his bedroom door, reaching for the notes on the bench, barely avoiding stepping on Soonie’s tail before running to the front door.

  


Minho slipped his feet into a pair of black sneakers and grabbed his keys from the door, leaving the apartment quickly, as to avoid letting any cats escape, and locked the front door.

  


He left the apartment complex less rushed, his stamina wasn’t as strong that day from his lack of sleep, and he could feel himself growing a little tired from all the running.

  


He could see the convenience store nearing. He wasn’t going to get some Bibimbap, it was easier to buy some instant ramen and save the cash for later.

  


The clear sliding doors opened for Minho as he approached them, and he walked into the warm convenience store, shivering slightly from the outside cold.

  


“Welcome!” Cheered a masculine voice.

  


He turned to bow to the employee politely, but stopped in his tracks when he recognised the shorter boy.

  


Seo Changbin.

  


Great.

  


The dark haired boy smiled at Minho from behind the shiny, white counter.

  


Minho huffed and continued into the store, walking over to the shelves full of tin foil-coated cardboard, the bright plastic ramen packets sitting inside. Picking up a packet labelled ‘spicy’ and a mint water from the nearby fridge, he reluctantly walked over the greying tiles to where the younger boy stood.

  


“Hey Minho.”

  


Minho grunted in response.

  


Changbin swiped the items, “You know I heard you took Chan to the school nurse today.”

  


“So what?”

  


“He said it was cute how concerned you were.”

  


Minho felt his ears heat up, and he grabbed the part of the hoodie that had been snugly placed behind his ears and pulled it over to hide them.

  


“three thousand won.”

  


Minho handed him the money, their fingers grazing.

  


No spark.

  


He took the change and walked over to the metallic, hot water dispenser, pressing the red buttons and waiting.

  


When Minho’s ramen had finished cooking, he walked over to the plastic, green tables at the back of the store, smiling to himself as he smelt the mouth-watering food in his hands.

  


He sat down, unwrapping wooden chopsticks from their protective, thin paper and rubbing them between his hands.

  


“Thank you for the food.” He muttered to himself as he scooped up a serving of the steaming, soup-soaked instant noodles.

  


A scraping sound from across the table interrupted Minho’s pleasant meal, and he looked up to find Changbin smiling down at him, a cardboard cup in his hand. He sat down, allowing

  


Minho to see the black bean rice and chicken breast sitting inside, condensation dripping down the side of the box.

  


“Don’t you have to work?”

  


Changbin shook his head, “Nope. I’ve finished for the day. So now I get to eat dinner with my great friend, Minho.”

  


Minho rolled his eyes, and continued eating.

  


He slurped up a spicy noodle, “Since when did you work here? I’ve never seen you here before.”

  


Changbin paused mid bite, and swallowed the piece of chicken in his mouth before dropping the greasy meat back into the box.

  


“Maybe a month or two ago? I don’t think I’ve seen you here either.”

  


“Wait.” Changbin furrowed his eyebrows at Minho in confusion, “Was that why you caught the bus on Tuesday? Because you were doing the morning shift here?”

  


“Yeah. My hours are pretty random. Better get used to me, I guess. Never know when you’ll have a new seat buddy for the bus.”

  


They continued to eat in silence, a peaceful silence, actually. It wasn’t the same as when Minho ate with Seungmin, no, then he was nervous and excited and could see himself considering Seungmin as a future romantic interest. With Changbin it was like a friendly silence, not knowing what to say but not making it awkward in the process. And, to Minho’s relief, _He didn’t have_ to consider Changbin as the stranger who wrote on his arm. For the boy wasn’t wearing something appropriate for the weather, and the green polo uniform bared his pale arms well enough for Minho to not be able to see any sign of the note that had been left on his wrist that morning.

  


“Can you do me a favour?” Minho finally asked.

  


Changbin’s head shot up, his piercing eyes staring into Minho’s.

  


“Depends on the favour.”

  


“Can you please stop joking about me liking Chan? I really- I really don’t like him that way. I find him just as attractive as the next person would. Today was just me being polite, helping him out when I saw no one else was. I don’t want him to come ‘let me down’ because of things you’ve said, when I don’t even like him like that in the first place.”

  


Changbin laughed.

  


“You know, that was all just a joke, right? I didn’t mean any of it, really. It’s just funny stirring you up, I guess. I had no idea you would react like that in the bus on Tuesday. Chan doesn’t know, by the way. We don’t really talk about that stuff, so don’t worry.”

  


Minho’s shoulders dropped in relief as he sighed. Thank god.

  


Changbin began to speak again, “Though I should say…”

  


Minho’s eyes widened, his whole body tensing up.

  


“Thank you for looking after him today. I was doing catch up work with Mr Bong during lunch and I wasn’t able to keep an eye on the troublemaker, so thank you for caring for him in my replacement.”

  


“Oh thank god.” Minho exhaled

  


He laughed again, his voice echoing throughout the store.

  


“Relax, Lee Minho, I’m not going to do anything to fuck up your life or whatever.”

  


Minho smiled, letting out a little chuckle.

  


Maybe Changbin wasn’t so bad.

  


And when Minho returned home, maybe he turned a blind eye to the fact that it was seven thirty, and he’d eaten past his allocated time slot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This won't affect anything but I edited the past chapters too. You can re-read if you really want, I guess, though most of them are pretty minor changes and you won't really notice a difference. Chapter 3 & 4 had been so rushed and last minute that I wanted to just go back and see how I could improve them. Though the edits were pretty simple because it was a last minute decision I made 2 hours before upload time, so who knows, I might edit even more within the next week. I want this fic to be the best it can be.
> 
> Actually, the holidays are coming up in four weeks, and while yes, I do have a lot of ideas for future fics, I really wanna try writing a TXT fic (Topic is secret) and a Peter Pan based fic about Stray Kids, inspired by some fanart my lovely friend Sal showed me on discord.  
> (The fanart: https://twitter.com/pickalove22/status/1104866521770270721?s=21 )  
> (The Stray Kids discord: https://discord.gg/Yp8CrhD ) 
> 
> though I'd have to ask the artist first if I can write it based off that idea lol.
> 
> Anyway ! Speaking of Discord ! Please join our discord server ! It's a really supportive, welcoming community of Stays and I would love to message anyone from here somewhere other than the comments on this fanfic lol. I'm not going to share my discord tag here but I promise you'll find me if you join the discord server, and I'm always open to talk about anything and everything K-Pop (or K-Drama !!) related.
> 
> https://discord.gg/Yp8CrhD
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this chapter ! I hoped you enjoyed it, and if you didn't, please don't be afraid to explain why in the comments section !!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay.
> 
> Last night I was invited to a last-minute outing... and it would have been strange if i had declined just so i could post a chapter of my kpop fanfiction at my designated time/day. So i spent the last 24 or so hours editing to make this as good as i could to pay you all back for the wait
> 
> i hope you enjoy

It was lunch break, and Lee Minho had lost his friend group.

  


Again.

  


Minho huffed to himself; people should really just claim a spot and sit there. Most groups _did_. But the little dancing family of five could never seem to claim one specific spot, and it _sucked._

  


His eyes scanned over the sea of blue and black jacketed peers, trying to find Yeji’s tight ponytail or Felix’s red hair within the crowd, something that could help him out.

  


As Minho continued to search the mass of people, his gaze locked onto someone else’s.

  


Someone, whose tired, bloodshot eyes stared back at him from under messy hair.

  


Bang Chan.

  


He could barely think about how little sleep Chan had to have gotten the night before to look that worn out, before the older boy ran a hand through his curly bleached blond hair, his lips curling up into a hot smile as his right eye winked at Minho.

  


Why? Why did he have to torment Minho like this? Why did he have to make Minho’s heart race so fast whenever they were around each other? It was going to send him into a cardiac arrest one of these days.

  


Minho teared his eyes from Chan quickly, and was relieved to find Hyunjin in the very centre of the crowd, waving adorably at Minho, smiling.

  


He had the cutest smile.

  


This here? This was a boy Minho could allow himself to fall for. Not Bang Chan, but Hwang Hyunjin. Hyunjin, who laughed at Minho’s dumb jokes and was so smart. Hyunjin, who was a straight-A student and danced so well, he could probably be even better than Minho himself. He had the sweetest smile that filled up his whole face and he seemed to care about their friend group so much, despite only knowing them all for barely a week. He didn’t outrageously flirt with anyone, nor did he play with anyone’s hearts cruelly, like _someone_ Minho knew.

  


And, his friends didn’t tease Minho about any possible crushes on him.

  


Well, Felix did, but that was different. That’s Felix.

  


Minho couldn’t forget that both boys were suspects on the list, and that Chan was a higher probability, being confirmed for detention on Monday.

  


Why would Hwang Hyunjin be in _detention_ at all, let alone on his _first day_. It didn’t link up.

  


He beamed back at Hyunjin, walking across the polished floors, avoiding classmates and sad, abandoned pillows and cushions as he made his way over to where the taller boy had been sitting.

  


“Hey, Hyunjin. I’m so sorry I got lost again, I can never find where we sit.”

  


Hyunjin laughed, shaking his hand reassuringly.

  


“It’s fine, it was painful trying to find Chaeyoung in this crowd.” Chaeyoung slapped him on the shoulder lightly, huffing.

  


Minho sat down beside Hyunjin, and watched Chaeyoung from across the table as she rolled her eyes.

  


“Look, it’s not my fault. Blame the Drama club. They can’t figure out where to sit so whenever they move around a whole quarter of the student body has to move around to accommodate them.” She gestured over to the described group sitting at the window table Minho had sat at on Monday.

  


He wasn’t sure how many people were in the club, they moved so much and communicated with so many people that it was hard to point down, not even forgetting some members sat with other people.

  


It was different for their small dance ensemble, sure, the others had friends outside of the group, but they all sat together usually. It didn’t really affect Minho that others were more social than him, he liked being friends with only a few people.

  


The person on the far side of the table, hair shining in the sunlight, black sneaker on the wooden table as he pointed upwards, a spoon in his left hand, was Han Jisung.

  


He seemed to be reciting some line from a movie or musical, everyone around him was hollering in laughter. The lunch ladies didn’t mind, and Minho was so glad that the teachers ate lunch elsewhere in the school. He would have gotten into so much shit for that.

  


He didn’t even realise if it was something Jisung did often, he never really paid attention to that group unless they were sitting next to them. But here Jisung was, containing his laughter to entertain others. He acted completely different to the nervous boy that had asked Minho to the cinema.

  


Oh, right. The cinema.

  


That was tonight.

  


Fuck.

  


Minho felt a tap on his shoulder, and shifted his gaze from Jisung, jumping as if he had been woken from a light sleep.

  


“Are you okay? you zoned out.” Hyunjin questioned.

  


He spun around to face the younger boy, noticing only now the small mole underneath his right eye. How had Minho never noticed it before? It wasn’t like Hyunjin covered it up with make up, he’d seen Hyunjin fresh out of a shower on Tuesday, and he had looked the same as always, maybe a little red from the hot water.

  


It was so cute, so perfectly _Hyunjin_ , how could he not have noticed?

  


“Minho?”

  


Minho coughed, blinking, before realising he had been staring at Hyunjin without speaking.

  


“Uh, ye-yeah sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today, I keep zoning out.” He stuttered, his ears tinting pink.

  


“Hmm. Weird.” Hyunjin pondered, “Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep last night?”

  


He shrugged, “Maybe.”, turning to his lunch in the silver tray on the desk. Spicy soup ramen had never looked more appealing.

  


Something slammed down on the table, letting out a loud ‘bang’ and shaking the table. The red liquid in Minho’s tray sloshed around, the soup in his barely lifted spoon streaming back into the bowl at the movement.

  


“ _There_ you are!” Felix exclaimed, sighing in relief. “I spent so long searching for you guys.”

  


Minho looked up at his best friend, glaring.

  


“Dude! What the hell?”

  


He turned to look at Yeji, and saw a dark, reddish stain down the front of her uniform, her elbows propped up onto the wooden table, a soup bowl in her hands.

  


Fuck.

  


“Oh my god. Yeji are you okay?” Hyunjin asked as Chaeyoung patted down napkins on Yeji’s soiled uniform shirt.

  


“Ow, ow, ow, ow. Fuck it burns. Jesus Felix be more careful!”

  


Minho turned to face the red haired boy, his eyes wide in shock, his mouth agape, staring at Yeji without moving. He could see Felix’s eyes turning glassy, his bottom lip trembling.

  


Yeji stood up suddenly, Chaeyoung pulling back in shock. The mouse-like girl zipped up her black, long puffer jacket to cover up the stain and took off, her footsteps leaving no sound in the crowded lunch room as she dodged peers and left through the open double doors.

  


“Uh,” Chaeyoung coughed, “I’ll go make sure she has a spare shirt.” And she followed after her.

  


He looked back at Felix, “Hey,” He said softly, “Are you okay?”

  


Felix blinked a few times, running his hand through his messy hair, his eyes darting around the room, avoiding both Minho and Hyunjin’s gaze.

  


“Y-yeah. Oh god. I didn’t mean to do that.”

  


“Look, you were just exasperated because you couldn’t find us. It’s fine, I’m sure she understands.” Comforted Hyunjin from Minho’s left. “She’s probably just pissed because it’s hot soup and its ruined her shirt, I don’t think she’ll be that upset later, right, Minho?”

  


Minho nodded, reaching across the table to squeeze Felix’s hand. “Dude, you know Yeji. She gets easily pissed about anything. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

  


Felix swallowed hard, closing his eyes and nodding slightly. “We need a permanent table.” He sighed, “I’ll talk to Jisung, see if we can work something out. It’s- it’s too much effort for lunch.”

  


Minho looked back over to the boy in question, saw how he had finished his speech and was laughing along with his friends, his eyes twinkling with laughter, hands clapping.

  


“I don’t really know him, but he seems reasonable. I’m sure we’d be able to work something out.”

  


Wasn’t it only just the other day, that Hyunjin had been staring at Jisung holding Minho’s hands? Did Hyunjin really think this, or was he just being polite? Or had it been that Hyunjin was zoning out, rather than staring?

  


They ate in silence, Minho slurping at his lukewarm soup, forcing himself to think about the plots of his favourite novels to try and avoid the looming thoughts about the stranger, and the situation from earlier. The stranger had wrote something on his wrist again today.

  


_Prepare dinner tonight._

  


Such a simple phrase, Minho was disappointed, to be honest. He was hoping for something that could confirm whether or not it was Jisung, if it had been something about a date or the cinema, it would have confirmed it, otherwise, it could remove him as a suspect. And it wasn’t like they’d agreed to a dinner or anything either.

  


The school bell blared out throughout the room, the sounds of groaning kids and clattering utensils infiltrating his thoughts when he realised that he’d forgotten to brush his teeth again.

  


Great.

  


**

  


Minho could clearly see the old cinema from where he stood across the traffic filled road. The grime stained stone building sat sadly on the corner of an intersection, a flickering, neon red sign illuminating the words ‘Movie Theatre’ onto the wet pavement bellow. Busy figures Minho couldn’t make out through the haze of the rain walked past the Cinema, and for a moment he thought Jisung was running even later than himself.

  


Until he saw him.

  


At school, Jisung had a way of standing out, making himself known to others. Always laughing and looking after his peers. Minho had honestly expected that Jisung would be on his phone or talking with some random person he knew or had managed to befriend while waiting.

  


What Minho _didn’t_ expect to see, was Jisung’s dark hair flipping left and right as he looked around. To Minho, he was just a dark blob, but he could tell from the way he stood that the younger boy was anxious.

  


The crossing light turned green, and Minho began to cross the road, to meet the nervous boy, finding himself walk faster than normal across the asphalt road.

  


He looked over at Jisung once he arrived on the footpath and noticed that the squirrel-like boy’s shoulders had sagged in relief. He could properly make out Jisung’s facial expressions now, his eyebrows slightly furrowed still, a nervous smile on his lips.

  


Minho smiled brightly, raising his hand, waving it as he began to approach Jisung.

  


His face shone red from the neon lighting above, though the big smile that appeared on his face when he waved back was far more illuminating.

  


“Hey.” Minho breathed as he found himself standing right in front of Jisung, “Sorry I’m late.”

  


Jisung shook his head, “It’s okay, I only just got here myself.”

  


They both knew that was a lie.

  


“Shall we?” he asked, linking his right arm with Jisung’s left.

  


The smaller boy giggled, “We shall.”

  


Together they walked towards the entrance of the old theatre, wiping their grubby, rain soaked sneakers on the doormat before passing through the fake-gold lined glass double doors leading into the cinema.

  


There was a lot to unpick about the old theatre, Minho noticed. First, the art deco themed carpet beneath his feet felt stiff and dusty, the colour reflecting just as much. Cobweb covered wooden walls lined the interior of the small foyer, harsh yellow lights hung from a dark ceiling, the one above the toilets sign flickering even worse than the neon sign outside. Minho felt overwhelmed, he could smell salty, buttery popcorn, mixed with the general musty smell that the building was emitting. they didn’t mix well. He could feel a headache forming, but Jisung?

  


Jisung looked as if he was in an almost euphoric state. His whole body was practically vibrating from excitement as he dragged Minho through the foyer to the confectionary stand.

  


“Two tickets to The Shining, please.”

  


The 20-something year old boy in front of them smiled, his eye catching blue contacts burning into their skin as he prepared their tickets, “Twenty thousand Won, please.”

  


Jisung beat Minho to retrieve out some money, his hands shaking as he pulled out a battered, brown wallet from the pocket of his washed out skinny jeans. Jisung handed the bleached blond haired boy two crisp, green notes.

  


“Would you like any snacks with that?”

  


Minho could see Jisung about to turn to him to speak, but Minho remembered what Felix had told him a few days earlier about Jisung’s favourite snacks and spoke. “One medium popcorn and two small sprite.”

  


He saw from the corner of his eye how Jisung stared at him, eyes blinking in confusion, his head shaking as he turned back to the boy behind the counter.

  


During Jisung’s moment of confused silence, Minho pulled out some cash, smiling as he handed it to the blond boy.

  


He handed the change back to Minho, his perfectly manicured nails brushing slightly against Minho’s skin as he pulled back.

  


Why was Minho noticing this?

  


“Here are your two tickets.” The blue eyed boy spoke, “it’s open seating, so you’re welcome to sit wherever you like.”

  


Minho picked up the almost overfilled, red popcorn bucket and his ice cold cup, thanking the server before turning to face Jisung.

  


“You ready?” He asked, leaning forwards slightly to pick out a piece of popcorn with his mouth.

  


Jisung nodded, grabbing his own drink, and leading the two of them throughout the grand foyer.

  


Minho found himself standing in front of two large, grey doors, a small promotional poster for the movie sitting in a clear, plastic container on the left door. He couldn’t tell what kind of film it was from the poster alone; it read ‘Syaining’ in Hangul down the bottom, the English title in small font bellow. The rest of poster was taken up by a Art Deco design featuring the colours red, green and gold.

  


That did not help.

  


Jisung pushed open the doors, and walked into the dark room, Minho following suit, his eyes blinking to adjust to the dim light.

  


They walked up the stiff, carpet staircases, the small LED lights illuminating the row numbers on the ground as they moved up towards the back. Jisung continued leading them till they reached three rows before the back, a couple about their age sat in the last row, making out. They walked past the chairs, apologizing to the people they had to squeeze past in the narrow space, till they reached the middle. The cinema was even more unbearable to Minho now, it was far more dusty, and the mix of savory and sweet snacks from the people sitting around them was headache inducing.

  


But, Jisung looked so happy.

  


How could he say no?

  


Jisung sat to the left of Minho, carefully placing his flimsy paper cup in the drink holder to his left, Minho was about to follow suit where Jisung shook his head, snatching the sprite from his hands and leaning over Minho to put it in the cup holder on his right. Minho stared at him, curiously.

  


“What?”

  


He looked up at Minho like a deer in headlights, still leaning over the older boy. Minho could feel Jisung’s breath on his arm, prickling his skin with goosebumps.

  


“I just thought to put the popcorn in the middle..” he trailed off, pulling back to sit normally in his own chair. “Sorry.”

  


“No, no. It’s okay! I just had no idea what you were doing. Sure, we can put the popcorn in the centre.” Minho waved his hand, reassuringly, smiling at Jisung.

  


He lifted the red, paper bucket full of popcorn from his lap over onto the arm rest between the two, playing with it for a moment to make sure that it could sit properly without support and not fall over.

  


“Thanks.” Grinned Jisung as he took a quick sip from his lemonade.

  


Minho watched as Jisung slipped off his black sneakers, dropping them onto the ground with a thud. In the dim cinema light, he watched as white sock clad feet found themselves curled under Jisung’s body, the squirrel-like boy turned to his side, huddling up as small as he could, all just to get comfortable.

  


Cute.

  


He could see the way Jisung’s head was turning to look at him, and Minho’s eyes flickered to the dull screen in an instant, his ears heating up at the thought of almost getting caught staring.

  


That would have been weird - It already _was_ weird. Jisung catching him red handed would have just made it worse.

  


The screen burst to light, full of colour, the movie beginning.

  


Minho had never heard of the movie ‘The Shining’ before, he hadn’t even asked Jisung what genre it was, but it looked old, so it couldn’t be that bad.

  


**

  


It turned out to be a horror film.

  


On Minho’s part, it really _wasn’t_ that bad. But Jisung?

  


Jisung was scared shitless.

  


His eyes were partially shielded by his fingers, it didn’t seem possible, but he had curled in on himself even more than before.

  


After one particular squeak Jisung let out, Minho decided enough was enough.

  


He finished munching on the popcorn in his mouth, swallowing the salty goodness before grabbing the edge of the half empty bucket, leaning over to place it on the musty carpet bellow his seat. Minho pulled up the armrest, and cautiously wrapped his left arm around Jisung’s shoulders.

  


The younger boy initially stiffened, his usually bright eyes widening, full of shock, before what happened had registered and he immediately shifted closer to Minho, resting his cheek on Minho’s chest.

  


And looking down at Jisung like that, feeling his stuttered breaths as the movie continued, his heart beating, speeding up at scarier parts,

  


Minho forgot about the rest of the world.

  


He forgot about the people around them, the movie on the screen blurring out of focus. He forgot about everyone that wasn’t Jisung, he forgot about every _thing_ that wasn’t Jisung.

  


He could feel himself falling and he didn’t stop himself. Being with Jisung made him feel comfortable and at ease, made him excited for the future and excited for what the universe had in stall for them after this movie date.

  


Was it a date?

  


Yeah. No matter what Jisung said, it was a date.

  


But then the film ended, and Minho found himself falling back into reality at a pace that swept the air from his lungs.

  


He had only agreed to this because Jisung was so excited, and because Jisung was a possible candidate for the person who drew on his arm. There was still a few people left and any one of them could be them.

  


But, Minho secretly liked the idea of it being Jisung. More than he liked the idea of it being Seungmin.

  


Jisung pulled away from Minho, his eyes piercing into Minho’s own.

  


He rubbed his neck sheepishly, “Thanks for uh, that. I enjoy horror movies but… I tend to get a bit scared.”

  


Minho laughed, shaking his head as he stood up from his seat, feeling his neck crack after being in such an awkward position for so long.

  


“It’s fine. I enjoyed it, especially watching you get scared – it was very entertaining.”

  


Jisung rolled his eyes, grinning, as he grabbed the two cups and squished them into the mostly empty popcorn bucket, following Minho in suit as they walked through the isle. Though, not surprisingly, when they got to the stairs, Jisung went on ahead. A mix of running and jumping, Minho giggling behind him.

  


He watched as Jisung dunked the red, paper container into the bin, turning back to Minho, his squishy cheeks sticking outwards with his beaming smile, flapping his right arm in a beckoning way.

  


Minho joined him at the bottom of the stairs, and they exited the cinema side by side, their hands brushing as they walked. He resisted the urge to reach out, and crossed his arms, feeling awkward. The headache coming back as his senses began to register on things that _weren’t_ Jisung for the first time in what felt like forever.

  


“Would you like to do something like this again, some time?” Jisung asked, the nervousness returning to his voice.

  


“Yeah, actually. Though, maybe in a place that is less headache inducing.”

  


Jisung tilted his head, confused.

  


“The smell, it’s a bit overwhelming to me. The mix of dust and popcorn, I mean.”

  


He nodded, “Makes sense. I’ve been here so much that I’ve been kind of desensitised to it.”

  


They entered the main foyer, the smell of buttery popcorn overwhelmingly pouring into his senses. His mouth tasted savoury, and he could feel the remains of a popcorn cernal stuck between two of his teeth.

  


Minho finally spoke as they exited the building, becoming engulfed in the cool air of the night, “So…”

  


He turned to face Jisung, and Jisung followed suit, “So…”

  


The older boy of the two chucked slightly, covering his mouth with his hand.

  


“I’ve got to go catch a bus, I’ll see you Monday?”

  


Jisung nodded, “Yeah, I’ll see you then.”

  


Minho turned to leave, making his way across the still-damp footpath.

  


“Wait!”

  


He spun around to see Jisung, his phone clutched tightly in his hand.

  


“Can I get your number?”

  


Minho beckoned for the phone, and upon receiving the unlocked phone, opened up the phone app, punching in the digits, double checking that they were correct, before calling the number.

  


Suddenly, his phone began to vibrate, and he pulled it out quickly to decline the call.

  


“There.” He smiled, “Now you have my number, and I have yours.”

  


He gave the phone back to the younger boy, waving as he turned back towards the direction of the bus stop.

  


Minho hoped he hadn’t been too harsh on Jisung, he hadn’t indended to be or anything, of course not, he was just nervous and wasn’t sure what else to say. And, Minho was pretty hungry.

  


The popcorn and sprite was only a temporary reliever of hunger and thirst, and he was already craving some sort of proper meal. And god, it was so cold. He wanted to slip into bed and sleep, not attempt to avoid slipping over on a damp footpath.

  


He pulled out his stringy earphones from his left pocket and inserted them into his phone, opening up Melon to play some music. The sound of tires on wet asphalt and traffic lights weren’t really the most suitable soundtrack to end his great afternoon.

  


Minho sat down on the blue, plastic chair at the glass bus stop, watching all the traffic pass in a blur. It was then that he noticed that his headache had returned, and realised it wasn’t only the smell of the old theatre, but the contact lenses in his eyes. Without much thought, Minho reached up to his face, plucking the contact lenses from his eyeball. He’d used them for over a week already, there was no point in holding onto them, so he flicked them off his thumb, watching blindly as they flew through the air and landed onto the road only a few metres away.  
Immediately, his eyes unfocused from the world around him. The lights from the passing cars blending and morphing to form an abstract painting of sorts, reds, yellows, whites and blacks mixing in a beautiful, but annoying blend.

  


The slightly blurry image of a green bus appeared into view, and while Minho could barely make out the numbers, he decided fuck it, most green busses stopped at his stop, this one probably would too.

  


He swiped his transport card as he entered the warm vehicle and quickly slid into a seat to the left. It was amazing how quiet and vacant the bus was at nine pm, he wasn’t alone, but it was a lot less packed than at the five pm rush. He turned his head to face the window, and watched as the scenery outside moved past.

  


Minho reflected back on the last few hours, how nervous Jisung had initially been, waiting in the cold for him, he felt bad, but had no idea how long the shorter boy had been waiting, it wasn’t Minho’s fault the bus had been stuck in traffic. He thought about Jisung’s bubbly excitement when he saw Minho, how he practically dragged him into the stuffy building and didn’t let Minho pay for the tickets. He thought about the fear that was on his face from the film. It wasn’t a horror film to Minho, despite being portrayed as one. If anything, it was probably a thriller, and to the other people in there, it probably felt like a thriller to them too. But Jisung had been so scared, and when he hugged Minho he was so warm and cute-

  


Wait, cute?

  


Yeah. Cute.

  


He could remember that distinct thought, about how cute Jisung looked then. Honestly, Jisung looked cute all the time. How had Minho not yet noticed this?

  


Minho continued to stare out the window, unable to conceal the smile on his face as he thought about Jisung. But then he felt his sleeve fall down from his arm facing upright to hold up his chin, and he could see the slightly blurry writing on his wrist and realised, fuck.

  


He had forgotten to find out if Jisung really _was_ his soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: my friend from the Stray Kids Discord wrote this amazing fic earlier and it is a total must read - he's super talented https://archiveofourown.org/works/18160205/chapters/42946436
> 
>  
> 
> anyway,,, i know, i know, chapter five was shit. i said i was proud of it but i hated it so much and i really want to go back and fix it up. i'll be on holidays in two weeks so when that comes around i might do a bigass spring cleaning and fix up everything. i'm so disappointed in my work and i promise you i'll try even harder to write decent content.
> 
> please leave constructive criticism so i can improve, i hope you enjoyed this chapter more than the last
> 
> (BTW '샤이닝' romanised as 'Syaining' is the Korean name for 'The Shining')


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, it's a little delayed. Sorry. I had no motivation to edit or write for days and had to force myself to
> 
>  
> 
> also thank you so so much to the people who wrote such kind comments on my last chapter. I haven't gotten around to replying yet but as soon as I saw them I was brought to tears. It's stuff like that that really keeps me going.

Minho’s feet brushed the rich, green grass below the swing set, pressing down onto the ground slightly to give himself a small push. Beside him, sat Felix. His swing seat sat still, he was biting his nails nervously, his left leg shaking.

  


“Felix, It’s fine. You’ve texted so much, don’t worry.”

  


Felix rubbed his face with his hands, his fingers pulling on his hair slightly.

  


“W-what if he doesn’t like irl me? What if it’s super awkward? What if he catfished me?”

  


Minho stared at him, unblinking. It was so strange to him seeing Felix acting so nervous about meeting a boy.

  


But this, this was _Eric_.

  


This was the boy who never failed to make his best friend smile. This was the boy that was better than the rest, the others who pushed Felix aside, called him clingy, annoying. It made sense that Felix would be so nervous, this was someone he liked who _finally_ treated him with an inch of respect.

  


“Look, Felix, It’ll be fine. I promise.”, Minho rubbed Felix’s back, “You guys have video chatted, right? There’s a rare chance now that it’ll be a catfisher. And even if he was, I’m here, right? I’d be able to get you out of that situation.”

  


Felix looked over at him, his eyes glassy, tears threatening to spill out. He smiled, his chin quivering, and he tilted his head back slightly, blinking rapidly to avoid tears threatening to ruin his makeup.

  


“Felix?”

  


Both heads snapped forwards to face the unfamiliar voice that called his name.

  


Standing in front of them, was a red-haired boy in a blue puffer jacket and yellow turtleneck.

  


Was this Eric?

  


Minho heard his best friend gasp, and he turned to watch as the shorter boy, eyes wide, leapt up out of his swing and ran into the arms of the other boy. They looked so happy, smiles filling their whole faces as they tried to hug even tighter.

  


He felt a pang in his chest, a longing for someone to treat him with that much love and fondness. He knew he didn’t _need_ to date anyone, but the knowledge that someone in his school, someone he _knew_ could be his soulmate was killing him.

  


The tall boy turned away from the couple and pulled out his phone from his pocket, trying to give the two of them their special time together.

  


“Minho!” He looked up, looking over at Felix confused. “Come meet Eric!”

  


Minho walked over to the two redhaired boys, did they plan to match hair colour?

  


He noticed, as he neared them, that Eric was the same height as Felix, and how the two of them held hands so fondly.

  


“Okay. So. Son Eric, meet Lee Minho. Lee Minho, meet Son Eric.”

  


They bowed slightly to each other, “Lee Minho… like the actor?”

  


Minho fought the urge to roll his eyes.

  


“Yeah, like the actor.” He laughed.

  


“So,” Felix began, resting his head on Eric’s shoulder, “Where are we going to eat?”

  


Eric grinned at him, clapping his hands together. “I know this great place in Cheongdam-Dong we can go to. You’ll love it.”

  


Felix giggled, lacing his arm with the boy in the blue jacket, “Lead the way, Captain!”

  


Eric laughed back, turning to Minho, gesturing with his hand for the taller of the three to follow as Eric began walking.

  


***

  


The three of them found themselves making their way into a small restaurant in the corner of a large grey building, the smell of fried chicken engulfing their senses.

  


“Hi, welcome to Min’s chicken! Where-”

  


Minho’s eyes widened in shock.

  


He knew that voice.

  


The dark haired boy turned to face the waiter that had greeted them, and saw him.

  


Kim Woojin.

  


The student president Minho knew turned up to school in a full face of expertly applied, nude-appearing makeup. He dressed sharp, clean. His hair was straight, combed neatly. He was the person the teachers liked to show off to the general public, ‘look at our pretty top student’.

  


Here, his hair was messy and curly. His face was bare, and his outfit consisted of a worn-in grey shirt and pants, a brown apron tied around his neck.

  


This was a side of Woojin Minho never thought he would see.

  


“Mr President.” He smiled.

  


Woojin’s eyes widened, he looked between Minho and the other two boys, pleadingly.

  


“Please, don’t talk so loud. Here, I’m just Woojin.”

  


“We’ll get uh, two tables, please, ‘Just Woojin’. I don’t want to third wheel anymore today.” He laughed.

  


Woojin, tight-lipped, nodded, and lead them through the small, homey restaurant. His feet made barely any noise as he walked across the old floorboards, Minho internally cringed as his own black shoes thundered on the wood.

  


The student president lead Eric and Felix to a small two seater table by the window. A warm, golden light shining down on a oak table, set with store-bought cheep napkins and metal utensils.

  


“Is this spot okay?” Woojin asked.

  


Eric smiled, “Yeah it’s great, thank you.”

  


The two boys sat down at the table, across from each other. Woojin handed them both menus. Minho almost gagged at the way they were smiling at each other.

  


“Minho?” Woojin questioned from his right.

  


Minho teared his gaze from the couple, and looked at the taller boy.

  


He extended his arm, gesturing over to a small two-seater in the opposite corner of the restaurant.

  


“Do you want to sit over there? I figured it would be far enough from the lovebirds for you to not feel uncomfortable.”

  


Minho laughed.

  


“It’s great.” He smiled, “Thanks.”

  


Woojin beamed, leading him over to the table.

  


He handed Minho a brown paper, laminated menu as the younger boy slid into the chair situated at the table.

  


“Have a look at what you want to eat.” Minho looked up at Woojin. “I’m going to go see if the ‘couple’ is ready to order.”

  


He smiled at him, nodding before turning back to his menu, listening as the student president’s footsteps got quieter and quieter.

  


This was so strange.

  


Out of everyone at school, Woojin was not the one he’d expect to have a part time job, let alone one at a small fried chicken joint.

  


It suited him, really. Having a job here. He didn’t seem like the sort of person who’d do well working part time at a convenience store.

  


But, how could he do all this? Be student body president, have top grades and work at a restaurant? Minho could barely survive all his studying.

  


“Did you decide on what you’d like?”

  


Minho whipped his head up, a deer caught in the headlights as he stared up at Woojin.

  


Wow, Woojin was really pretty. Those girls really weren’t wrong.

  


“Minho?”

  


Minho shook his head, clearing his thoughts, “Sorry, what?”

  


“Did you decide on what you’d like to order?”

  


“Yeah.” He turned to the menu, feeling his ears heat up at the thought that he’d not even considered what to order because he was too busy thinking about Woojin.

  


Minho pointed randomly at the laminated paper “Uhh, I’ll have that.”

  


“Spicy fried chicken?” Woojin asked.

  


He breathed a sigh of relief, at least he hadn’t pointed to anything bad. “Yeah, and some water, please.”

  


The brown haired boy nodded, slipping the menu from Minho’s grasp into his own. He smiled, bowing slightly, before making his way over to the kitchen.

  


Minho took this opportunity to look at the restaurant properly. As his eyes scanned the room he properly noticed how small the place was. There was no way it could fit more than thirty people. On the far left where Felix and Eric sat, was a whole wall of glass, showcasing the street outside. Soft RnB music played over the speakers, a contrast to most fried chicken places that’d play Melon’s top charting tracks. The other walls in the restaurant were brick, posters of advertisements from the 80s and 90s framed on the walls.

  


What sort of person owned a restaurant like this, and how did Eric find it?

  


Speaking of Eric, he turned to look at the couple sitting across the room.

  


Felix’s head was tilted back in laughter, his hand covering his mouth while his body shook with glee. His left hand was intertwined with Eric’s, who was smiling fondly at the redhaired boy.

  


They looked so happy together.

  


Finally, after so long, so many boys tearing Felix down, telling him he was too eager or loud or giggly or just himself, here was finally someone who treated him with the respect he deserved.

  


If Eric hurt Felix, Minho would probably punch him.

  


“Mind if I sit here?”

  


He stopped staring into space, and looked up at the person who spoke.

  


Woojin stood, a wooden tray piled with Fried Chicken in one hand, two glasses with a bottle of water in the other.

  


“Don’t you have to work?” Minho questioned, tilting his head to the side.

  


Woojin shuffled slightly, a look on his face that could almost be considered embarrassed. “It’s my lunch break. I can go somewhere else?”

  


He waved his hand reassuringly at the older boy, “No no, it’s okay. I was just confused.”

  


The brown haired boy smiled, leaning forwards to lower the Fried Chicken onto the middle of the table, placing the two glasses and jug of water beside it before sitting across from Minho.

  


“So.”

  


He blinked, his hand hovering over a piece of chicken.

  


“When did you start working here?”

  


Woojin resumed picking up the sticky food, taking a bite.

  


“About a year ago? Auntie Minkyung is a good friend of my Grandmother, so when I mentioned to her that I was looking for somewhere to work, she sent me here.”

  


“Can I ask why you have a job?”

  


He shrugged, “It makes things easier for mum.”

  


Minho nodded, reaching for his own bit of chicken.

  


It was delicious.

  


The Chicken had been cooked perfectly, mouth-wateringly crunchy without any burnt parts. The spicy, sticky red sauce adding to the heat of the food that had _just_ been fried.

  


He groaned in delight, “Dude this Fried Chicken is amazing.”

  


Woojin grinned, “Auntie sure does have a talent.”

  


They continued to eat in silence, until Woojin spoke.

  


“So, Seungmin tells me the two of you went to some K-Pop café fan-event.”

  


Minho coughed on his water.

  


“W-what? How do you know Seungmin?”

  


Woojin tilted his head, questioningly. “He’s my younger cousin, didn’t you know?”

  


His eyes widened in shock, “I had no idea.”

  


The brown haired boy laughed, nodding. “Was it a date or…?”

  


Minho felt his ears heating up, “No!” He shouted.

  


Heads turned to stare at him, and he bowed profusely, embarrassed at his outburst.

  


“No.” The dark haired boy whispered, “We were just hanging out. Why? Did he say something?”

  


Woojin shook his head, “No. I was just wondering, he enjoyed it, by the way. But when Chan and Jisung also mentioned you I wondered if you were some kind of playboy, hoping to earn everyone’s hearts.”

  


Okay, what the fuck? Woojin knew Chan and Jisung too?

  


He seemed to notice the bewilderment on Minho’s face. “I’m the student president, Minho. I know everyone.”

  


“Oh.” Minho echoed.

  


“But with those two…” The bear-like boy trailed off, rubbing his neck in thought. “I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell you this.”

  


“What is it?”

  


“Well, believe it or not, I’ve known Chan since Middle School. He introduced me to this underground rap group he’s got with Jisung and his friend Seo Changbin. I’m in a group chat with them and Changbin’s neighbour, Hwang Hyunjin. He’s new to our school – actually, do you know him?”

  


Minho could barely comprehend what was happening.

  


Chan and Jisung were friends? But they never acknowledged one another at school? He didn’t acknowledge Changbin either, and from the way Jisung interacted with Hyunjin, it was if they had never met before. And not forgetting the fact that Minho had _never_ seen Hyunjin so much as spare a glance at Changbin either!

  


To top it all off, not one of them acted like they knew Woojin at all.

  


“Uh, yeah, actually. I do know him. He sits with me and my friends during lunch.” He paused.

  


Memories of all his encounters with the other people he’d hung out with from his list flashed through Minho’s mind. This was the perfect chance to do the one thing he hadn’t done with them.

  


“Sorry to change the subject, but I was wondering, do you, by any chance, write on your arm?”

  


Woojin stared at the younger boy for a moment quizzically, before he opened his mouth, “Sometimes? Like little reminders or what not. I usually cover it up though. Student President and everything, you know? But why do you ask?”

  


Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck

  


**F U C K**

  


Minho lied through gritted teeth, “Oh, uh. Just a small survey for an Ink project I’m doing in my Korean class. Oral presentation and whatnot.”

  


Woojin nodded, smiling, and opened his mouth to speak.

  


“Hey, Minho, are you ready to go?” Asked a voice from Minho’s left.

  


The dark haired boy’s head shot up, looking at the person who had spoken, and found Felix, smiling knowingly down at him.

  


Minho turned to face the table, realising they had finished all the food, and back up at Felix.

  


“Yeah.” He shifted his attention to Woojin, “Is it okay if I leave now?”

  


Woojin nodded, waving his hand dismissively, “Of course. I should probably get back to work now. Auntie tends to give me lunch breaks that are too long.”

  


The older boy stood, collecting the wooden board the meal sat on, “Don’t worry about paying, it’s on me.”

  


“Are you sure?”

  


Woojin smiled, his eyes turning to crescents as he began to walk towards the kitchen.

  


His redhaired best friend guided Minho out of the small restaurant, a shit-eating grin never leaving his face.

  


“I told you it could be him!” Felix mocked in a singsong voice.

  


“Shut up.” He mumbled.

  


Minho hated to admit it, but Felix _could_ have been right all along.

  


Maybe it _was_ Woojin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So an explanation.
> 
> Over the next week or so I will be posting the remaining 3 chapters that I need to post to get back on track.
> 
> I was gone on art camp. It was really fun and I was expecting it to have wifi & spare time for me to write more. But every night I was exhausted as hell and the wifi would only connect to my phone.
> 
> It's currently the holidays!! I'm at my grandparents so I'll be able to write _heaps_. I'm always more willing to write when I'm here.
> 
> To be honest I was worried that if I didn't post this chapter now, I would never update this. My last fic I gave in at chapter 4 and didn't update it for 6 months. didn't matter because in the end I deleted it anyway yeet.  
> I do fully intend on seeing this all the way through to the very end, and I hope you do too :)
> 
> Also ! I'm not the biggest fan of Miroh but Chronosaurus and Victory Song slap so hard.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've opened a twitter uwu - find me at @Alyssa_Aroha - Also opened a curious cat lol: https://curiouscat.me/Alyssa_Aroha

“Hey!”

  


Minho whipped his head away from the window outside the moving bus and looked at the person who had spoken to him.

  


Hyunjin smiled down at the older boy from where he stood. Decked out in a two piece, sports branded black jumpsuit.

  


How did he make that shit look stylish?

  


“Hey! Fancy running into you here.” He laughed.

  


The taller boy moved, sitting down in the seat beside Minho.

  


“I was hoping I would beat you to the dance studio.” Hyunjin rubbed his neck, “I haven’t shown you my skills yet and I’m worried I’m nowhere near as talented as you.”

  


Minho waved him off with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’re great.”

  


The brown haired boy turned back towards the window as the conversation died out, feeling a sickness in his stomach.

  


He’d almost forgotten about his plans with Hyunjin to dance together today, and after everything that had been happening recently, Minho kind of wished Hyunjin had bailed.

  


Minho enjoyed Hyunjin’s company, don’t get him wrong, but being at the café with Seungmin, and then the date with Jisung and lunch with Woojin, well,

  


It was making his head spin.

  


He knew now for _sure_ that Woojin was a possibility, but not Seungmin or Jisung. And not even forgetting that he hadn’t even checked yet whether it could be Chan, Jeongin, or _even_ Hyunjin.

  


At least he’d already figured out it wasn’t Changbin.

  


“Are you okay?”

  


Minho jumped in his seat, a startled expression on his face as he turned to Hyunjin, “What?”

  


Hyunjin furrowed his eyebrows, “You seem really deep in thought, is something up?”

  


He racked the back of his brain for ideas, he couldn’t just _tell_ Hyunjin what was going on,

  


Could he?

  


“Minho?”

  


“Yeah, uh, just this uh, Korean essay I still have to write.”

  


The taller boy furrowed his eyebrows slightly. It was obvious he didn’t believe Minho, but thankfully, didn’t press further.

  


That was something Minho admired about Hyunjin, how he didn’t poke his nose into other people’s business and let them talk when they were ready.

  


Minho wanted to be a person like Hyunjin.

  


He was admirably tall, a beautiful face with a perfect under-eye mole to top it all off. He was so unbelievably kind and teared up at the thought of the lunch ladies overworking themselves.

  


Hyunjin’s always so polite when interacting with their peers and teachers.

  


And the way he comforted Felix, Minho had never been able to look after his friends like that. He liked to think he was a nice person who looked out for others, but watching Hyunjin, as he so often did, he wished there was a way he could be just a _little_ bit better at it.

  


The bus slowed to a crawl as it approached it’s next stop, and Minho bolted upright.

  


Hyunjin stared up at him curiously.

  


He was so cute.

  


Fuck.

  


Now was not the time for that.

  


“This is our stop.” He rasped, gesturing for Hyunjin to move.

  


The taller’s eyes widened, and he scrambled out of his seat, rushing to get to the door and swipe his card.

  


Barely once Minho’s feet had landed on the bricked footpath, had the Bus begun to drive off again.

  


“We almost missed our stop.” He laughed, leaning on the pole holding up the bus stop to regain himself.

  


Hyunjin laughed along with him, his voice melodic, his eyes crescents.

  


“So, where’s the building?”

  


Minho pulled away from the pole and turned to his left, gesturing to a big, grey building labelled ‘Tantara’, “Right there.”

  


The two boys made their way over to the building in question, their shoes crunching over the light frost that had settled over the footpath.

  


‘Tantara’ was scary in appearance. It hadn’t been cleaned properly in years, grime settling over the walls and under window frames. Graffiti covered the walls of the first floor, and the door to the entrance was big and metallic, with no glass allowing anyone to see inside.

  


He could understand why Hyunjin was probably a little intimidated.

  


Minho sped up his walking pace slightly, trying to overtake the taller boy’s long strides, pulling a card out of his phone case to scan against a sensor beside the doorframe.

  


With a click, the door slowly swang open inwards, and the two peered inside.

  


The room that greeted them was small in comparison to the building itself. Two black leather couches sat to the right, in front of a large, polished, metal elevator. Beside the elevator stood a wire staircase going upwards into a second level. On the left sat a receptionist’s desk. The only thing light coloured in the room, it was white with a wooden finish. A woman dressed stylishly in street fashion sat, typing away on the sleek computer in front of her. And smack bang in the middle, was a corridor full of doors.

  


“Oh! Lee Know! HHJ! I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

  


Minho turned to face the receptionist who spoke,

  


_Ay-ch-Ay-ch-Jay?_ What the hell did that mean?

  


Oh.

  


Hwang

  


Hyun

  


Jin

  


Wait – How did she know Hyunjin?

  


“How do you know HHj-J?” He stammered

  


She raised her eyebrows, confused, “He comes here all the time with CB97, J.One and SpearB, don’t you know them?”

  


CB97? J.One? SpearB?

  


Who the fuck were they?

  


“Chan, Jisung and Changbin.” Hyunjin whispered in his ear.

  


“Oh!” Minho exclaimed, “Yeah, I do know them.”

  


The taller beamed at the receptionist, “Today, SuZy, I’m here with Lee Know to dance!”

  


She smiled, typing into her computer for a moment before speaking, “Practice Room 4 is open, if you guys are cool with using it?”

  


The two boys nodded, thanking her before speeding into the corridor to find the room in question.

  


“You never told me you’ve been here before.” Minho whispered.

  


“You didn’t ask.” Hyunjin shrugged, “Plus, I didn’t know they had Practice Rooms here, only recording studios.”

  


“Minho?”

  


He knew that voice.

  


Minho begrudgingly turned where he stood, and came face to face to no other than Bang Chan, Jisung standing beside him.

  


He saw from the corner of his eye the way Jisung and Hyunjin squinted at each other, before Jisung turned and smiled at Minho.

  


“Since when do you come here?” he asked.

  


How the hell did everyone come to this building without Minho ever running into them?

  


“I’ve been coming here for ages with Felix, Yeji and Chaeyoung.”

  


“Son Chaeyoung?” Chan asked, running his fingers through his hair.

  


“Lee.” Why did everyone confuse the two? Had Son Chaeyoung ever even danced before?

  


Chan nodded, smiling at Minho, “So, how do you know our beloved Hyunjin?”

  


“I sit with him at lunch, he’s joined my dance group. How do _you_ know Hyunjin?”

  


“He’s Changbinnie’s neighbour, joins us in the studio now and then.”

  


Jisung spluttered at the word ‘Changbinnie’.

  


Minho didn’t blame him.

  


“I really don’t mean to interrupt this,” started Hyunjin, making all heads turn to him, “But I’m really anxious about showing Minho my dancing, and I’d really like to get it over and done with.”

  


Jisung nodded, waving in reassurance, “Don’t worry, I won’t let him distract you any longer. C’mon Chan, let’s go annoy Changbin.”

  


The four boys smiled at each other, saying their goodbyes before going separate ways.

  


“You’re quite the social butterfly, aren’t you, Hyunjin?” Minho laughed as he located Practice room 4.

  


Hyunjin shrugged, “I guess?”

  


They stepped into the room, shutting the glass door behind them, and stared out at the space in front of them.

  


Minho dropped his bag onto the table to his left, shrugging off his puffer jacket and walking into the middle of the floor.

  


“Aren’t you going to come stretch?”

  


Hyunjin blinked, before following the older boy in suit and joining him in the middle of the room.

  


“Sorry, I’m still a little nervous.”

  


“Don’t be, I won’t judge you or anything.”

  


\---

  


Minho sat, his back leaning against the mirror as he looked up at Hyunjin as he plugged his phone into the speaker.

  


A r&b type slow drum beat slowly filled the room, “this one’s a little slower, I can do something more intensive later.”

  


He shook his head, “It’s fine, just show me what you’ve got.”

  


A steady rhythm joined the beat, and a powerful rap began.

  


Hyunjin began swaying to the music, before beginning to move his arms, his legs following. His movements were graceful, and it was clear he had listened to this song a lot. The dancing seemed to perfectly match with the music and lyrics, sultry, fun, soft, relaxed,

  


Hyunjin.

  


A perfect dance that represented Hyunjin.

  


There was no way in hell that Minho could tell him he couldn’t join their dance group when watching a performance like that.

  


Slowly, the lyrics began to sound familiar, almost as if he had previously known of them, but the sound, it was unrecognisable, Minho could remember every song he heard.

  


But not this.

  


“These lyrics, they sound familiar. I feel like I’ve heard or seen them before?”

  


Hyunjin continued dancing, “Maybe-Maybe you’ve heard me listening to it? It’s-uh 3racha.”

  


3racha?

  


_”Pressing my hat on my head, my hands touch in my pocket as I walk proudly.”_

  


Minho knew it was dumb, but he had to check. He pulled out his phone and opened up the notes app, scrolling to find the one filled of lines from the stranger who wrote on his arm.

  


Scrolling past unintelligible lines written at 3am, poems that made no sense and reminders that weren’t as cute as he originally thought, he found the lyrics. Sitting there amongst the rest.

  


Holy shit.

  


“Yeah, maybe.” Minho mumbled, his head snapping back up from his phone to continue watching Hyunjin.

  


\---

  


As the song faded out, Hyunjin slowed, before coming to a complete stop.

  


“Was I okay?” He asked, nervousness dripping from his voice.

  


Minho clapped.

  


“Okay? You were brilliant. We’d be honoured to have a dancer like you. That’s so impressive.”

  


Hyunjin beamed, “Thank you so much.”

  


The taller boy stood, walking over give a high five.

  


“Why don’t we dance together? See if we can come up with something on the spot?”

  


Hyunjin nodded, rushing over to his phone to change the song.

  


A western pop song trickled through the speakers.

  


Minho nodded to himself, feeling the beat of the music course through his veins, losing himself to the rhythm of the song.

  


Hyunjin joined him, dancing in a way that was synced with Minho, and yet incredibly his own.

  


He felt breathless, not just from dancing so hard, but from dancing with someone as powerful as Hwang Hyunjin. His movements were fluid, precise, sharp. Slotting with Minho’s own movements in the mirror that proved they’d be a strong team when it came to learning dances together.

  


Fuck, they had never performed together before, they hadn’t even choreographed or laid out some ground ideas for the song, and yet they danced together like _this_.

  


As the song faded out, and restarted, Hyunjin collapsed onto the floor for a moment.

  


He sighed, pulling the front of his sweater forward to fan himself, before taking the grey garment off entirely.

  


Minho was about to follow suit, till he felt his breath hitch in his throat.

  


There, on Hyunjin’s left wrist, was smudged ink.

  


The stranger had written on his wrist earlier that day - a reminder to buy groceries. Nothing amazing, nothing that gave them away, but they wrote something,

  


And so did Hyunjin.

  


Minho collapsed onto the floor, more out of shock than dancing exhaustion, his head spinning.

  


He was too afraid to take off his sweater.

  


This could be it, the moment he pulls it back, finds an identical smudge and falls into Hyunjin’s arms, professing how they were soulmates.

  


Maybe even kiss him.

  


But what if he pulled it back, and it wasn’t the same? If that was the case, it would ruin this fantasy Minho had in his head of his soulmate being his crush.

  


“Are you ready to properly choreograph it?” Asked Hyunjin as he stretched, his back cracking.

  


Minho nodded, standing, lowering his hand to help the taller boy up, feeling a sense of déjà vu from when he did the same thing with Chan only a few days ago.

  


Chan, Chan who was the most likely suspect on his list.

  


No.

  


He couldn’t let a thing like ‘soulmates’ ruin his chance to dance, especially with his crush.

  


“Let’s do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm shit at updating.  
> That's that.
> 
>  ill probably come back to this and fix it later, maybe add another part, who knows. im losing motivation to write this, but ive come so far, theres no use in backing out now.
> 
>   
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
> Also stream Bloom Bloom by The Boyz for clear skin.


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